Harlen Coben 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

According to guardchild.com, 17% of teens surveyed stated that they received an email or an online message with photos or words that made them feel uncomfortable, and only 7% of parents were aware of this. In an article titled “The Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben, it explains about the idea about parents using spyware on their children. Everything a child types can already be seen by the world, even pedophiles or online bullies. Coben supports the idea; however, he feels that showing the article to a child is better because it can lead to a to a conversation about concerns the parents may have. Parents should monitor their children’s online behavior because they want to keep their children safe from cyber bullies and pedophiles.

While there are pros and cons of spyware, I believe the pros outweigh the cons. Kids don’t always make the best decisions and especially not online, where they feel safest. If you don’t monitor your child it could end badly. It’s better to be safe then

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.

I have talked with some of my friends about “Should parents install spyware on the computer to inspect their kids?” All of them think that was not an appropriate way. One of them, Tonya Steel said, “It makes me sick that parents can put spyware on computer to stalk their kids.” She didn’t mean the software that just blocks porn sites; she just couldn’t accept the one that record every keystroke, every page clicked on even every msn convo. Tonya said: “It crossing the line way too far!” However, when I discuss this question with some parents, their answers are diversity. Some of them think it depend on children’s age, such as if kids are just 10, and they will consider to put spyware

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

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

Harlen 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 how spyware is a possibility.Should parents of teens and tweens go undercover? Harlen Coben, the author is trying to make parents have conversations with their teens and tween about internet safety, and let them know if spyware is a possibility. I agree but in some opinions i disagree with Coben and his prediction. If you put spyware on your computer, you have the ability to log every keystroke your child makes and thus a good portion of his or her private world. That’s what spyware is at least the parental monitoring kind. You don’t have to be an expert to put it on your computer.

Coben uses reasoning by frequently bringing up the different issues with spyware, only to refute them and strengthen his argument. He possesses a more lenient perspective on what should be considered safe on the Internet and what should not be. For example, he argues that not all of a child’s conversations need to be considered and neither does the issue of pornography. Coben argues that pornography is a natural interest amongst many teenage boys. Thus, he persuades his reader to be more open about spyware through his lenient position on spyware and by addressing almost all of the issues that come to a reader’s mind. Coben both establishes his credibility and appeals to his audience’s emotions through his use anecdotes. For example, he includes how his friend had a talk with his daughter after monitoring her using drugs and having an affair with her dealer, which ended up well and put his daughter in the right direction. Coben also uses personal anecdotes to appeal and connect with audience. For example, Coben uses a personal anecdote of how he used to look at magazine from Playboy to relate to the audience of teens, who would be against spyware. Coben establishes a well-rounded argument; although, I do feel that installing spyware on a child is still very wrong to do, I have somewhat become more open and can see why some would consider

By putting spyware on an adolescent's computer a parent is attacking the privacy of his or her child and as a general rule this would happen behind the child's back. This is breaking the trust of the adolescent and will surely cause disdain of the guardian being referred to if found

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

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 “The Undercover Parent” Harlan Coben thinks that parents should use spyware to keep tabs on what their kids do on the internet. According to Coben, there are two reasons to put spyware on your child’s computer. One, parents need to protect their kids from cyberbullying and secondly, everyone already can see what your children do on the internet. Coben also says that children will find other ways to avoid the spyware such as using cellphones; but, Coben says, cell phones are better than computers. Coben deems that parents should tell their kids that they have installed a spyware in the computer. Coben makes some great arguments, but I do not agree with him.

“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)