Harlan Coben Analysis

Improved Essays
According to Harlan Coben, a writer from The New York Times, it’s necessary that parents use spyware. As he said “Loving parents are doing the surveillance…” and not unknown officials. (Coben) Coben’s argument is that parents should use spyware. He noted that teens nowadays are exposed to so much on the internet. A great amount of parents aren’t taking this in mind. (Coben). I totally agree with Coben’s argument by using spyware for the protection of danger within them and within the interweb. As a reason Coben had stated for the parental monitoring, is that teens could be harmed in anyway over the dangers that are on the web. He claimed, “... we’ve all read about the young boy unknowingly conversing with a pedophile or the girl who was …show more content…
Danah Boyd, the author of It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, stated that teenagers should be able to have access “... to wonder the digital street…” (Boyd) However, this is a terrible idea because of how there are many dangers on the interweb. Parents need to monitor their kids just to be cautious of what the’re doing or are being exposed to. The internet is not a safe place, and it’s not a private spot to visit. As most teens, nowadays, post any thought they have online, it can possibly be there forever. Nothing goes away or is removed, it simply is just there somewhere. Next, time it’s best you think before you upload something because who know how that could affect you.
Parents should take in mind the dangers of the web. They should be aware and protective. However, it’s best if there is communication going on too, you can’t just go and stalk everything your child does. Communication should take place and talk about what’s wrong and what’s right. Spyware should be a thing. You never know what could be going on out in the “internet world”. There are many danger that can go on with just this

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever thought of putting spyware on your child’s computer? In the article ‘‘Undercover Parent’’, Harlan Coben discusses how most parents won’t even consider putting spyware on their child’s computer. From my point of view parents should put spyware on their child’s computer. Some parents will say that it’s better to use parental blocks that deny access to risky sites. For example, if your child looked up porn, your child would not have access to that website.…

    • 202 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his essay “Undercover Parent,” Harlan Coben supports the idea of using spyware on teenager’s electronics by parents. Using this spyware you have the ability to “log every keystroke your child makes” (2) and invading their private space. While this idea is valid because most parents who do this are loving and only want to protect their children from harm, by placing this spyware on a teen’s electronics you are not only evading their privacy but also their trust. This is because more than likely parents are doing this behind the child’s back, which could ultimately lead to distrust and resentment due to the lack of trust in the teen to be able to make their own decisions. However, spyware on computers would, in fact, help to prevent situations…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Harlan Coben’s article “The Undercover Parent” (2008), he argues that parents should use spyware to protect their children. He says that there is a line on how it should be used, but not using it would be negligence. Coben believes monitoring a child through spyware is a good way to protect them from harm. After reading Coben’s article, I have found that I disagree with his opinion. In the article, as coben writes while referring to a child, he states clearly “Shouldn’t he learn now that the Internet is not a haven of privacy?”…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the article or Op-Ed "The Undercover Parent" (2008), Harlan Coben asserts that parents should install spyware on their children’s computer to keep them monitored from everything they are doing online and to protect them from harmful people and websites. The article supports this claim by using counterarguments to take the other side of the idea and then later rebutting them with examples supporting it back to his argument. Coben wants parents to install spyware for their children to keep them safe from the harm and dangers of the internet. The author tries to convince parents that it is a great and easy tool that will keep their children safe and that they should consider talking to their children first about it before installing it. The…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In this article “The UnderCover Parent” Harlan Coben claims,that parents should put spyware on their kids computers, and phones etc, that kids couldn’t be trusted on the internet for the reasons that kids could be on websites they shouldn’t be on . Do you think parents should put spyware on their kids technology devices ? I disagree with Harlan for the reason that, Harlan is saying that children shouldn’t be trusted on the internet , I disagree because if you have a bond with your child (son/daughter) they wouldn’t abuse the internet and if they have a problem they should be able to come to you as a parent for advice . Another reason why I disagree with Harlan is because if you are spying on your kids you’re investing in their privacy…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Harlan Coben, in the article “The Undercover Parent” (2008), explains how parents should install spyware on their children’s devices to monitor them and keep them safe from the dangers of the Internet. Coben supports his claim by first comparing first thoughts of spyware to Dick Cheney sitting in a dark room, looking suspicious and shady and then he provides scenarios of things that have happened to those kids who were not being monitored. The author’s purpose is to inform parents of the dangers of the internet and the benefits of monitoring their kids in order to try and convince them to install spyware and keep their children safe. Coben writes in an urgent tone for guardians to increase the seeming need to watch their child’s actions on the internet.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Coben says you should just use spyware to monitor your teens activities instead of going through their personal life because the parent doesn’t need to know about who they like.…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Although deciding if you trust your child or not may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today’s concerns over teenagers’ use of the internet. If you were a parent with teenage children, would you use spyware to monitor your child’s internet use? This is what many parents have chosen to do in order to watch what their children are doing on the internet. Many parents use it to protect their children from things like cyberbullying and pedophiles, while others use it to spy on them to find good gossip or to be overly involved in their children’s lives. The differences between the responsibly protective parent and the irresponsibly nosy parent are discussed in “The Undercover Parent” an article by Harlan Coben, and in this essay as well.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By pointing out that “we’ve all read about the young boy unknowingly conversing with a pedophile,” (66) he pulls at a parent’s natural instinct to protect their children. He wants people to read his essay and feel empathy for the parents that use spyware. He gives an example of a friend who used spyware on his daughter’s computer and found out about his daughter using drugs. By using the spyware to obtain…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Do you think using spyware to monitor your children is a invasion of privacy? I do not, I was raised by my parents knowing that I do not have rights till I am eighteen or I am out of their house. I have reached an age to understand where my parents are coming from now, and why my parents went through my phone, computer, and diary’s as often as they did; they were just doing their job as my caregiver. In the op-ed article “The Undercover Parent,” by Harlan Coben (2008) claims that spyware is a great way to monitor their children’s internet activity.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, kids must start learning that the “Internet is not a haven of privacy” (Coben 1). So, everything on posted can already be seen are all and maybe even seen by future employers, teachers, or dates. As a result, kids have to be extremely careful about what they post and parents should always be updated and aware of what their child is doing on the Internet. Another argument might be that it is illegal to listen to another person’s conversation, which is true, but only applies to people older than eighteen. Furthermore, it is important to remember that this isn’t the government listens, but that child’s own loving and caring parents, “Loving parents are doing the surveillance here, not faceless bureaucrats” (Coben 1).…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Undercover Parent Coben

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Instead of doing it like a stalker. Parents want to know what their kids are doing for their safety. The kids don’t want their parents looking at everything they do. They want their…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Things like pedophiles, rapist, and child predators are very prominent today on the internet. Not only that, but now kids have to be very careful what they put out on the internet because future employers do look at it. The way your child uses the internet could affect their career paths. Many parents are struggling to monitor and keep their children safe while using the internet.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parents can simply install it and get weekly reports of everything their child did on the computer. When reading this, like Coben planned, I was intrigued. At the time, the invasion of privacy still struck me as slightly strange, but I was willing to hear his argument. The main argument he uses to justify the use of spyware is that it can protect children from online predators and other inappropriate material on the internet. Using spyware can help to alert the parent, who can possibly intervene before it is too…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays