When Hemi Zucker's 8-year-old son began refusing to leave the computer for the dinner table, things came to a head.
His wife, frustrated by the many hours a week their son plays games online and his vehemence to stretch out the fun, banned the computer altogether.
"The computer is the 'c' word in our house," Zucker said, a Los Angeles resident.
The Zuckers aren't alone with the creeping feeling that their kids are spending too much time online. About a third of parents believe the Internet sucks up too much of their child's time, according to at least two studies this year. And an annual report from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future shows that number has risen steadily since 2000, when only 11 percent of parents cited the issue.
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