No single cure-all exists to protect kids from pornography and other dangers on the internet, according to a report released May 2 by the National Research Council (NRC).

Instead, the 420-page report, called "Youth, Pornography, and the Internet," recommends that individual communities blend an appropriate mix of educational, technical, and legal strategies to keep kids safe online.

"No single approach can provide a solution, since any one approach alone can be circumvented with enough effort. A balanced mix of strategies is needed," said former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, chairman of the committee that prepared the council's study.

The study comes as a three-judge federal panel in Philadelphia is weighing the constitutionality of the Children's Internet Protection Act, a law requiring public schools and libraries to install pornography-blocking software on their computers.

Children need to be taught how to make wise choices on the internet, and parents need to supervise them, the NRC report stressed.

Up to now, an area that largely has been neglected is the importance of parents, librarians, and others in equipping children to go on the internet, Thornburgh said at a press briefing announcing the report.

Parents and grandparents have an obligation to educate themselves about the internet so they can assist children and supervise them, he added.

Panel member Geoffrey R. Stone of the University of Chicago said that although internet screening filters and law enforcement can help protect children, "Overreliance on those methods will lead to a false sense of security."

Judith F. Krug, director of the American Library Association's office for intellectual freedom, welcomed the study.

The findings "confirm ALA's view that protecting children online is complex," she said, "and the solutions demanded are also complex as well as varied."

She added: "I am particularly pleased to see that filters are not touted as the only solution, nor even the best solution. If you educate children, you are developing an internal filter that is going to remain with them throughout their life."

Congress asked the NRC to study the problem of internet pornography in 1998. The council's report is intended to serve as a practical guide for parents, educators, librarians, information technology vendors and service providers, and public policy makers.

Although only a part of the material on the internet is inappropriate for children, the report says, "that small fraction is highly visible and controversial."

The study estimated that, worldwide, there are about 400,000 for-pay adult internet sites, out of more than 2 billion publicly accessible web pages.

Most of the debate concerning the internet has focused on commercial sites, but there are many other sources of sexual material, including person-to-person file exchanges, unsolicited eMail, web cameras, and conversations in chat rooms.