Harlan Coben posted an online news editorial, titled “The Undercover Parent” (16 March 2008) that suggests to parents that they should have conversations about their teens, and let them know spyware, on their computer, is a possibility. The author was first told about spyware by his friends at a dinner; since then, he has explored the thought of placing spyware on children’s computers. Coben’s purpose was to persuade parents to place spyware on their children’s, or to at least think about it, to monitor their children’s internet usage. The intended audience of this article is parents with children/teens who go on or use the internet. Coben states that parents should be open to the idea of spyware and talk to their children about it, but they
