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Lacking answers, the summit wound down with a panel of actual children--a cute if predictable stunt. Onstage with their parents and teachers before a ballroom full of strange, faceless adults, the kids readily assured us that they do all they can to avoid naughty material on the Net. They were perhaps a bit more credible when talking about the genuine fun you can have online--a notion that may have escaped many of their listeners. The president of a Website company bet that if I asked summit participants what they used the Internet for, most would say nothing but E-mail. I conducted an informal survey, and this turned out to be pretty much the case. Take Donna Rice Hughes, the former gal pal of Gary Hart, who has reconstituted herself as an antipornography activist with the group Enough Is Enough. She said she used the Net strictly for research and E-mail. Nothing recreational? "Gosh, no," she said. "If I'm going to recreate, I'm going to go play tennis or do something physical."
For more reports on the Internet/Online Summit, see our Website at time.com