Pee Wee Football

We may be finally letting Justin play football next year. He started asking to play in kindergarten but he's always been little and back then kinder boys wore full pads and they played kinder, 1st and 2nd together. I knew that neither Justin or me was ready for that. So, we have always told him that he could play once he got into 5th or 6th grade. Well, now he is fixing to be in 5th grade but I am still a little nervous about letting him play. I've heard so many stories about injuries and how dangerous a sport it can be. It also doesn't help that I don't like football at all!
We have had several friends who are highschool football coaches and everyone of them have all said they aren't letting their boys play football until they get to middle school for several reasons.
The main reason being that they have seen so many boys come through that have played since kinder and they are just burnt out on it. The other common reason we hear from them is that a lot of the pee wee coaches don't teach the proper way to hit and tackle which in turn causes major injuries.
But at the same time I would like Justin to know how the game works and how to play when he gets into middle school so he has a better chance of getting more play time. He is my athlete after all.
I want to make the right choice for him. What are the advantages verses the disadvantages of letting your son's play pee wee football? So, I would love to hear anyone and everyone's opinions. What do you think?