Article Analysis: The Undercover Parent By Harlan Coben

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.

Poetry is like a song without music, it has the ability to awaken your emotions and the ability to tell stories that can paint beautiful, relatable, imagery in the viewer’s mind. Upon reading the poem, “My Son the Man” by Sharon Olds, she presents a unique view on her bittersweet experience of watching her son gravitate towards manhood, “Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider” (line1), while realizing he is astute enough to escape his mother’s strong hold, “to learn the way out” (line 16). As a mother myself, I began to recognize how I can relate to the speaker’s challenges of understanding a child’s need to test limits and break free from dependency. I realized through the speaker’s obvious allusions to Houdini expressing the need to break free, the contrast used to convey the indirect references to Houdini, and the similes used to express emotion toward reflecting back on a time of innocence, accepting the need of a maturing child’s independence proves the strength of a mother’s love.

In the article, "The Undercover Parent" by Harlan Coben, the author talks to the audience about why he thinks all parents should watch their children on the internet. Coben uses pathos more than anything else when trying to reach out to his readers. Coben uses some tactics to get the reader to trust what he says. One specific tactic is that he acknowledges the reader's feelings. He also manipulates the reader by reducing the negative feelings that they have when they read this article and replace them with positive feelings. Then he is finally increasing the fear enough that the reader will feel obligated to put spyware on their kid's computer so that they can protect them from the horrible thing found on the internet.

As the Internet developed, it brings a lot of benefits, such as getting information much quicker; however, it also brings problem. One problem that Internet brings to today’s society is children’s safety on virtual world; there are a lot of temptations attract kids on the Internet. This issue Coben discusses is a particularly controversial one because it’s hard for parents ignore the dangerous on the Internet; on the other hand, if parents surveillance kids’ privacy world, it’s really embarrassed for children. How could we solve this problem? What is a compromise way for both parents and children? Coben thinks parents should use spyware on the computer, but not surreptitious doing this; parents should tell

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

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

The reason I really agree is because Coben is showing how good spyware could be because it could tell you what your kids are doing and see if it’s bad and even see who they’re even talking because they could be talking to some crazy and weird people. Another good thing about spyware is that you could put a tracking device in their cell phones to see if they’re going in a bad neighborhood. If I was a parent I would consider using spyware just to make sure that my children are ok and not in danger. Coben is trying to get parents to agree but some parents might think it’s invading their children's space but Coben is just trying to show that without protection it could lead into

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

The poem “My Son the Man” is a short poem written by Sharon Olds. Using allusion and simile Sharon tells about a mom watching her son mature, growing and escaping her grasp. The mother expresses sadness as she reflects on her maturing son watching him grow into a man; comparing it the magician Houdini performing his mesmerizing challenging escapes.

Coben’s claim is that parents should talk to their teens about their internet use and they should let them know that spyware is a possibility. He gave us a little story about one of his friends confessing about how he put a spyware on his fifteen-year old son’s computer. So that they can monitor everything he did online. Coben also states in his article that it isn't difficult to put it on computers that anybody can do it. Then when you downloaded it you will be receiving reports about everything you kid is doing.

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

Coben also thinks it would better to have parents not check on their kids, but yet again he tells them it’s a good idea for them to check on their kids. I think parents should at least give their kid the privacy they need, even if the parents want to know what their child is doing. Our knee-jerk reaction as freedom-loving Americans is to be suspicious of anything that hints at invasion of privacy (Coben 2).

“This legislation grew out of the fact that by 1998 roughly ten million American children had access to the Internet, and at the same time, studies indicated that children were unable to understand the potential effect of revealing their personal information online and parent failed to monitor their children’s use of the Internet.” (Koby)

Although in many countries an adult is legal at 16 and are known mature enough to make their own decisions. Although she clearly states “worrying about physical dangers is of course completely normal”. This shows that she is worried about the negative impact of social media and is worried about her children becoming victims of cyber bullying by having access to unlimited internet. Although this is one reason as to why she should spy on her children I still disagree with the

Is your privacy getting invaded by your parent? Technology gets better each and everyday, but how will it affect you? It has put a big effect on teens so their parents can know what is going on while their teens aren’t home. Parents have worked around problems to figure out many things such as where they are, who they called, and how fast they are driving. Depending if a teen is responsible or not tells how much freedom the teen can have. Privacy is important but parents also need to consider the teens perspective. In the article “Parental Monitoring Or An Invasion of Privacy”Robert Foltz discusses how parents are worried about everything their children are doing at all times. In the article “How Private Is Your Private Life?” the author Andrea Rock talks about her privacy is always close to being invaded. Privacy is not always taken the right way, teens can be tracked, what the teens think about their privacy may cause problems, and the actions they make results in what they are able to do.