At the least, young people's exposure to computers needs to be supervised, Ms. Moll argues. And in the case of younger children, it may be inappropriate altogether. THERE ARE clear indications that young people are spending more and more time in the virtual world. Despite the claims that Internet use is replacing TV watching, a 1999 survey found that American children between the ages of 2 and 17 who had computers, video games, and a television spent on average four hours and 48 minutes a day in front of some type of screen, compared to three hours and 40 minutes for children who had only televisions.1 Clearly, access to more screens increases, rather than decreases, the total time spent in front of screens. Another emerging picture of computer use shows that the average amount of time spent online is increasing every year. In 1999, American children between the ages of 2 and 17 were spending approximately one hour and 37 minutes a day using a computer or playing video games -- an increase of 24 minutes over 1998.2 In 2001, Canadian 9- to 14-year-olds who had access to the Internet at home spent 4.9 hours per week online, up from 3.8 hours per week in 2000 and 2.4 hours per week in 1999 -- a 100% increase in only two years.3 The potential problems lurking in these numbers should not be minimized. Research indicates that between 5% [and] 8% of Internet users have difficulties associated with Internet addiction. . . . It is something that needs to be taken seriously by parents, because serious problems will arise in the child's life if this goes unchecked, says psychologist and Internet behavior consultant Richard Davis.4 Where Are Parents? Parents think they know what their children are doing on the Internet, but recent surveys show that parents may be in denial. A 2001 survey of Internet use, sponsored by the Canadian nonprofit organization Media Awareness Network, showed that 71% of parents thought they knew a great deal or a fair bit about their child's Internet use. Yet when children were asked the same question, 70% said their parents knew very little or nothing about their online activities. That finding is particularly disturbing when the survey also showed that 30% of 9- to 10-year-olds said that they visited private and adults-only chat rooms. The problem gets worse, with 58% of 11- to 12- year-olds, 70% of 13- to 14-year-olds, and 72% of 15- to 17-year-olds reporting such activity. A total of 85% of these children said that chat sessions usually occurred at home and that they were usually unsupervised. Only 18% reported having household rules regarding talking to strangers in chat rooms. Although 41% of the young people surveyed used instant messaging, fewer than 4% of their parents were aware of it. By the age of 13, 81% of youths said they had e-mail accounts, although 44% said that their parents didn't know about at least one of them. Twenty percent of the youths surveyed had their own Web pages, but only 6% of parents knew about it.5 The lack of parental vigilance is a worldwide problem. A UCLA survey found that 55% of young people said that they didn't tell their parents about everything they did online.6 In a British survey of Internet use at home, one in seven parents admitted having no idea what their children were viewing online.7 Perhaps such statistics are to be expected, since computing, online and off, is not a way of interacting with the immediate environment, but rather a way of disconnecting from that environment. From the beginning, parents were advised to keep computers, especially those with Internet access, in the multi-use areas of the house in order to offset their isolating effects. However, in 1999, a survey showed that 20% of American children between the ages of 8 and 16 had computers in their bedrooms and that 11% had access to the Internet there. Among junior high and high school students, more than 60% of all their computer time was spent alone. …