A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Undercover Parent By Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben’s essay “The Undercover Parent” attempts to enlighten readers, specifically parents, of the benefits to installing spyware onto their children’s computers in order to keep record of their child’s online activity. Whilst admitting at first he was not particularly keen on spyware himself, Coben aims to persuade his audience of the benefits by highlighting the dangers of children using the internet unsupervised and without boundaries. However, Coben fails to supply factual evidence to back up his claims, all while stating a number of contradictions within his own arguments. Coben states, “…overprotective parents fight their kids’ battles on the playground, berate coaches about playing time and fill out college applications…” (19). This is a weak argument because it inadvertently suggests that overprotectiveness

He tells a brief story about his friend, who through using spyware, found out that not only was his college-bound daughter using drugs but that she was sleeping with her dealer. As tragic as this story may be, the words “college-bound” imply that the daughter is (or nearing) the legal adult age of eighteen. While it is important to teach one’s children the difference between right and wrong, there also comes a time where they have to use the tools their parents have equipped them with to make decisions for themselves. Although one could argue that it is a good thing the father confronted the daughter about her problem before it got too out of hand, one cannot help but wonder what in the daughter’s upbringing could have led her down such a path. Sure the father stopped the situation before it ruined his daughter’s life, but the entire situation most likely could have been avoided completely without the use of spyware. There are, after-all, ways to be an effective, inspiring, and supporting parent without spying on the child’s every online