A Rhetorical Analysis Of Undercover Parent By Harlan Coben

In the article “Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben, written March 16th 2008 in the New York Times, Coben states parents should consider putting spyware in their children’s computers and monitoring what their teens are doing on the internet. What is spyware may you ask? Spyware is a software that can be installed on a computer to watch every keystroke someone may make. This allows parents to watch every snapchat, tweet, Instagram post and every conversation your teen ever has over the internet.

In the article Coben states his argument which is that he thinks parents should have spyware to watch what their teen is doing because it could protect the teen from pedophiles and cyberbullying. “…we’ve all read about the young boy unknowingly conversing

with a pedophile or the girl who was cyber bullied to the point where she committed suicide” this is Coben using harsh examples to make the parents want to monitor their teens more so their kid doesn’t get bullied or converse with a pedophile. In the end Coben states that he thinks parents should have spyware “But it might be enough to show them this article, have a discussion about your concerns and let them know the possibility is there”.

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In the article Coben supports parents using spyware but on the other side of the spectrum parents may think spyware in infringing on their teens privacy.

Some parents care about their children but don’t care about the drama going on at school or who their best friend likes. I can see how parents think it’s an invasion of privacy and some feel like if the child found out about the software they wouldn’t trust their parents because who knows what else they could be hiding. So as a parent I could see why they wouldn’t want to put spyware on their teen’s computer because they are invading in the privacy of their kid.

I personally think there are good and bad things about spyware. If I found out my mom had spyware on my device, I would be mad that she didn’t tell me. But if I was getting bullied, and was too scared to go to my mom about it, then maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I think if parents are considering spyware then they should sit down with their teen and have a conversation saying that they are considering putting spyware on the devices and have a reason why to back up their decision and maybe come to a consciences if the teen is totally opposed to it. So as for the spyware I don’t think parents should do it but I can see why most parents would want

to.
My number one concern is that kids are too afraid to go to their parents when they get cyberbullied or when they see something inappropriate. So is it wise to let a machine do your job of being a parent? In a parents point of view they want what’s best for their teen. I personally don’t think spyware should be used until you find something making you cautious about your teen’s actions. But it’s all up to the parent of the teen and what they think is best for that child.