A Rhetorical Analysis Of Undercover Parent By Harlan Coben

Coben states that parents should put spyware on their kids computers, but shouldn’t be nosey and be completely responsible look for anything hazardous. However I disagree and believe teenagers should be trusted with online responsibilities. One reason for this is a third party (the vendor) makes a record of what you do ,but the author did not make note this or did not even know which in my opinion is worst than a faceless bureaucrat because that third is likely to release it to other parties such as google or other big corporations.

In Harlan Coben’s article “The Undercover Parent,”(2008) he claims that parents should result to putting spyware on you tennager’s devices. Coben supports his claim by first stating “At first I was repelled at this invasion of privacy. Now, after doing an fair amount of research, I get it”, after a dinner he just had with friends who told Coben that they have put spyware on their teenager’s device, and how it kept him out of trouble. Coben’s purpose of this article is try to persuade parents that you should download spyware on your children’s devices yet, in order for Coben to get his purpose, he had to do some research and ask around for incidents that had occurred to his friends.. The audience is intended for parents of those who concern

In his article, “The Undercover Parent”, Harlan Coben states that spyware is a good way to keep children safe. He supports his claim by using anecdotes and examples of how parents can use spyware effectively to keep their children safe yet also avoid taking away too much of their privacy. He also establishes a strong argument through addressing all of the problems that stand against his claim and how they can be solved. For example, he explains that parents will not be invading their child’s privacy (one of the main arguments against spyware), if they simply look for conversations that put the child in potential harm. Coben seeks to inform his audience, specifically parents, that spyware is effective in providing the safety of children by monitoring

Parents should use spyware on their kids. Parents should use spyware, because of the horrible things happening to kids and teenagers such as teenagers getting raped and killed.This surveillance would protect your kids from harm. Harlan explains that “some will say you should simply trust your child”, but that is not the case you are just protecting your kids from harm.

The title of the essay is The Undercover Parents, which was written by Harlan Coben. The essay was published on the 16th of March, 2008. In the essay, Coben presents his main ideas and thoughts regarding the use of spyware by parents to monitor children. He says that installing a spyware on the computer used by children, especially those in the teenage years, can help parents track what actually their children view on computers. In the essay, the author says that while it is quite hard to follow up on children while they are away from home and this causes parents to be so worried, installing spyware on the computers in the house really helps. Coben says that the program allows parents to keep track of the children

While it is true that monitoring children is helpful, it does not necessarily mean that parents should invade children’s internet activity, ignoring their autonomy. Although most parents do not have malicious intent, it is invalid because it could cause harm, “And most parents already monitor their children, watching over their home environment, their school” (paragraph 4). Secure parents do not feel obligated to pry on their children because it creates a distrusting environment where the children are always on guard around their parents. Due to possible breaches of trust by parents, their parental dynamic could be corrupted by misguided love. Furthermore, Coben talks about parents not trusting their children and correlates it to negligence, “Trust is one thing, but surrendering parental responsibility to a machine that allows the entire world access to your home borders on negligence” (paragraph 6).

If people posting something online, it won’t be secrets anymore; not only your parents can read them, but also other strangers can read them, too. For teenagers, in order to against with parents, they will discover other ways to use the Internet. For instance, children may use some watchwords to talk. In addition, once teenagers notice that there is a spyware on the computer, they won’t trust their parents anymore. Once the trust between children and parents disappear, everything will become tough.

Harlan Coben, in the article “The Undercover Parent” (2008), explains that in order to keep kids safe on the internet, parents should download spyware on their computers and phones. Coben supports his claim by first illustrating the different dangers there are on the internet by creating fear and then providing examples of different stories his friends have told him about their children on the internet. The author’s purpose is to persuade the parents of teens to download spyware on their kid’s computers so that they can make sure their kids are safe and responsible while online. Coben writes in a persuasive tone for the parents of teenagers to convince them that downloading spyware is the responsible thing to do. While I agree with Coben’s argument on downloading spyware on children’s computers, his lack of solid evidence weakens his chances of

The article “Undercover Parent,” written by Harlan Coben, claims that parents should have a conversation about their concerns and let their kids know that “spyware” or other systems similar to it are available. I both agree and disagree with his thoughts towards “spyware.” This article is an editorial, and was written with the intention of persuading parents that “spyware” is a good idea, to an extent.

Spyware on your computer may sound like a good idea to keep on eye on your kids, but would they like it? Harlan Coben’s article “The Undercover Parent” from New York times, March 16 2008< talks about using spyware might sound like a crazy idea but supposably it is not. According to Harlan Coben, Parents feel not concerned about the idea of using spyware, but it is best for your family, mostly your childs safety. He also states, parents worry about irrelevant things instead of worrying about their childrens doing bad stuff online, such as, chatting with pedophiles, rapist, or their drug dealer. From my point of view, I totally disagree with Coben’s statement.

Stereotypical parents are known to be overprotective towards their younglings. All parents are concerned about their teens, yet some parents tend to go overboard. Parents need to learn when to monitor and when it is too much. In the article “The Undercover Parent” (2008), Harlan Coben proposes that parents should use spyware to supervise their teens. Coben argues that parents should supervise their teens because adolescents are secretive when it comes to having their own privacy, which makes parents oblivious toward their actions. However, at the same time parents should consider to keep their teens aware of their surveilling. Ellen Goodman’s article “Big Brother Meets Big Mother” (2007) on the other hand, criticizes that parents who monitor

One thing that led me to agree with Coben was when he spoke to parents and said, “... you’re listening for dangerous chatter..” (Par.11) He’s right, when spyware is used correctly, the parents are looking to make sure you’re being safe, it’s not strangers trying to find information about you. A parents job is to protect their child at all costs, and that extends to protecting you on the internet. Even though kids may feel like their privacy has been violated, if used correctly, you are not invading privacy, only giving protection from dangers unknown to them.

To begin with, parents spy on their kids so they could know what they bring doing during their days.In the article the author states that “61 percent of parents checked the websites that their teenagers visited, 60 percent visited their social media accounts and 48 percent looked through their phone calls and messages. Basically, what is this quote is saying is that parents are tracking their kids due to their websites that they go thru their cell phones who they being texting or calling and they social media such as facebook instagram. This is important because, it shows that parents are very careless for their child. So, if

One argument that many people mention is that spyware is an invasion of privacy. As a teenager myself, I value the whole idea of privacy. The use of spyware to monitor your child’s computer is on the borderline of invasion of that privacy; however the use of none of it is on the borderline and even beyond the point negligence. Coben mentions this idea of privacy on the internet that, “One of the most popular arguments against spyware is the claim that you are reading your teenager’s every thought, that in today’s world, a computer is the little key-locked diary of the past. But posting thoughts on the Internet isn’t the same thing as hiding them under your mattress.”(Coben 1). In reality, there is no real form of privacy on the internet. What you post there will forever be there and can be seen by anyone no matter how many passwords or locks you put on it. However most teens and kids would still over look this idea and consider the use of spyware an invasion of their privacy, and it can be. If you are monitoring every single conversation your child has, then that’s crossing the line and invading the privacy of your child. There is a difference between being responsible and being nosy. You as a parent are there to look out for dangerous chatter or possible conversations that look and sound concerning. You are not there to listen in on what teacher they hate, or who they have a crush on, or if they’re crying over how a book ended. However, not monitoring at all is practically a form of neglect. Being a parent it is your responsibility to protect your child from the possible dangers of the world, whether it is in real life or online. Providing no form of protection or even checking on your child’s activities online can put them at high risk of getting hurt whether it is emotionally or physically. The dangers are out there and it is worth crossing the border of privacy in

Secondly, Coben believes that spyware can prevent children from chatting with pedophiles on the internet. I agree this could help in reducing that number if parents are able to see ahead of time, but Coben doesn’t take into consideration there are other ways for this to be done. For instance, Coben says, “But text messages and cellphones don’t offer the anonymity and danger of the Internet. They are usually one-on-one with someone you know. It is far easier for a predator to troll chat rooms and Myspace and Facebook.” This statement is not entirely true. Cell phones are the primary way of communicating in today’s generation especially text messages. There are applications that people can download and use right on their phone, and never even have to log onto their computer.