Ellen Goodman The Undercover Parent

Harlan Coben in an editorial titled ¨The Undercover Parent”(March 16,2008) claims that parents should have conversations about their concerns with teens, and let them know spyware is a possibility. Coben develops and supports his claim by using anecdotes. One example of an anecdote Coben uses is in paragraph one,¨… friends of mine confessed over dinner that they had spyware on their 15 year-old son’s computer so they could monitor all he did online.¨ He also supports his claim because he is giving the parents a decision on if they want to use spyware or not. The intended audience for this article is parents because this article is about protecting your kids while they are online and to prevent bad things to happen. I both agree and disagree

In Harlan Cobens article “The Undercover Parent” (2008), he states that spyware is a good thing to have on your childs computer, and at first I disagreed. But, after a lot of thought, I now agree with Cobens point of view.

In this Coben tries to get the reader to think the idea of spyware is a good thing and not so bad as it sounds. It sometimes helps reduce negative feelings by explaining what spyware is and how easy it is to get. When Coben says, "you have the ability to log every keystroke your child makes and thus a good portion of his or her private world" it does kinda scare the reader a little because of how he phrases some words but then he adds, "that’s what spyware is—at least the parental monitoring kind" this reassure the reader. "Am I suggesting eavesdropping on every conversation? No. With new technology comes new responsibility" this statement shows us that he feels that we shouldn't eavesdrop on every conversation Which makes the reader think that now it won't be such a time

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

Every day teenagers use the internet, whether it’s on their phones or on the computers at school or at home. Their lives are practically centered around it. They’re connecting with each other on social media such as: Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and even online video games, and this has is benefits, but it can also have some negative and possibly dangerous situations. The internet is not a safe haven for anyone or anything. In the article “The Undercover Parent” the author, Harlan Coben, makes the argument that spyware is alright to be used by parents on their kids computers as long as the parents are using the software responsibly. I agree with Coben’s statements because of his solid arguments of dangerous conversations, privacy, and bullying.

Parents can also have a more direct role in monitoring the technology that their children use. There are multiple options available to parents, including tools and software designed specifically to protect juveniles from online predators. One popular tool is the Net Nanny, which allows parents to monitor everything that happens on the computer and can limit the access a person has to online activities based on the specified settings (Cohen-Almagor, 197). Another method available is the Engine for Relationship Analysis (ERA), which monitors, analyzes, and assesses online relationships as they develop (Cohen-Almagor, 197). This tool could be effective with preteens and teens as it allows more freedom than the Net Nanny, but still keeps parents informed of any potential issue. The ERA is used to analyze instant messaging platforms, which would be an effective method to track as using email would stifle the conversation and there would be a greater risk for the predator of being caught. This type of prevention would work well with addressing the issue of having a capable guardian concerning Routine Activities

Some parents believe that they should put spyware on their child’s computer to monitor them. They want to make sure their child is safe and not talking to a stranger in a chat room or being bullied online. Part of being a parent is to make sure their child is safe and protected, that is one of

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

In his article "Undercover Parent," Harlan Coben encourages and supports the concept of spyware being placed on teenagers' computers by their parents. With these programs parents can view every keystroke their child makes and examine what websites their children visit. While Coben’s viewpoints are bold, his argument still stands weakly with several invalid and questionable viewpoints.

Government surveillance in the past was not a big threat due to the limitations on technology; however, in the current day, it has become an immense power for the government. Taylor, author of a book on Electronic Surveillance supports, "A generation ago, when records were tucked away on paper in manila folders, there was some assurance that such information wouldn 't be spread everywhere. Now, however, our life stories are available at the push of a button" (Taylor 111). With more and more Americans logging into social media cites and using text-messaging devices, the more providers of metadata the government has. In her journal “The Virtuous Spy: Privacy as an Ethical Limit”, Anita L. Allen, an expert on privacy law, writes, “Contemporary technologies of data collection make secret, privacy invading surveillance easy and nearly irresistible. For every technology of confidential personal communication…there are one or more counter-technologies of eavesdropping” (Allen 1). Being in the middle of the Digital Age, we have to be much more careful of the kinds of information we put in our digital devices.

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

“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)

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.

In Ellen Goodman’s article “Big Brother Meets Big Mother” (November 2,2007) claims that she doesn’t agree with parents monitoring their kids cell phone. The author supports that claim by saying “I am a believer in the text messaging and cell phoning that keeps parents and kids in contact. But there’s a moment when the two-way tools of communication turn into one way tools of surveillance.” Goodman wrote this article in order to inform parents if they should track their child or not. The author is writing the article for parents and makes it feel like its a rant of their opinion she also throws in a little bit of an informative feeling.