There are more balls that could be turned into outs hit to infielders than outfielders though. Probably more balls, period, even at higher levels.
Outfield play is important. It's all important. It's just less important, and while a bad outfielder can absolutely cost you a game and we all can come up with scenarios where it has happened, it's less likely because an outfielder has fewer opportunities to screw everything up.
Well said. It's all important.
But the reason parents and kids (at lower levels) gripe about playing the outfield is really the tens of thousands of data points that tell us that infield is more important. Coaches know the best fielders have to play infield (at lower levels) to have chances to win games. Dozens of balls get hit to the infield each game, a handful to the outfield. While we try to convince ourselves and the parents how important outfield is (at lower levels), we all know it's not as important.