As digital technology increasingly controls the lives of young people, scientists have begun to wonder: Is the Internet good or bad for kids? "It's impossible to answer that question because the Internet is so many things," says psychologist Patricia Greenfield. "It's networked computer games and news about politics and instant messaging and e-mails to your grandmother. It can be both an educational resource and a hiding place for kidnappers." Adults have many reasons to worry about kids' Internet use. In chat rooms, for instance, it is easy to lie and kids can get trapped in dangerous situations. In searching for and visiting websites, kids can come across words and pictures that they may not be prepared for. To help prevent that situation, in 2000, the US Congress passed the Children's Internet Protection Act, which requires schools to block offensive and obscene websites. Researches have pointed out how confusing the Internet can be for children, even when they think they know how it works. To find out how much kids know about the technology, Zheng Yan, an educational professor in New York, interviews over 300 students in grades four to eight. Most of the youngest students think the Internet is simply an icon   on the screen. It often isn't until 10 that kids realize that the Internet is a network of millions of computers. It takes another 2 or 3 years for them to understand that a stranger can see what they've posted. Understanding the technology helps kids understand how dangerous the web can be. It's not simply enough to block harmful websites or to limit the number of hours kids spend online. Learning about the Internet can also give young people the power to use it in beneficial ways. In the mind of very young children, the Internet is   _  .
harmful simple a complicated network a news source