In Harlan Coben’s article “The Undercover Parent” (2008), the author argues that installing spyware on children's devices is necessary, and not doing so, would be irresponsible parenting. Coben develops his claim by first explaining why precautions should be taken when installing parental control software. Then he provides his reasons as to why counterarguments don't apply to the situation. The author aims to forewarn the dangers of children's online activities and propose a solution to protect them. Coben writes intensely for parents to emphasize that children with unmonitored machines become vulnerable to harm. Harlan Coben used many debatable points in his article “The Undercover Parent”. For example, Coben states “Now, after doing a fair amount of research, I get it” (paragraph 1). This evidence suggests that Coben did the appropriate …show more content…
Another example of the text that weakens Coben’s argument is when he makes a broad statement without backing it up with any statistics, Coben states, “-yet when it comes to chatting with pedophiles or watching beheadings or gambling away their entire life savings, then. then their children deserve independence?” (paragraph 5). Lastly, Coben makes an example of his friend's daughter. Coben’s argument would have been stronger had he used an example that could easily be fact-checked, however, he used an example that may not even be real. Coben states, “One friend of mine, using spyware to monitor his college-bound, straight-A daughter, found out that not only was she using drugs, but she was also sleeping with her dealer” (paragraph 13). When this sentence is added, it is meant to inflict fear on parents who might have “college-bound, straight-A” children, however, when one uses fear to get their point across, it should be conducted with evidence as a backbone to their argument. Therefore, for these reasons, I believe that many parts of Coben’s argument can be
The expansion of the Internet infrastructure across the world, has brought an increased audience. Which has provided expanded markets for businesses and exploited new opportunities. There are virtually countless social sites and media used by individuals to access and share experiences , content, insights, and perspectives. Parents today tend to believe they should spy on their kids online activity. I argue parents should respect the privacy of a child's social life and his/her internet activity.
When you praise your students, what words come to mind? Intelligent, smart? According to the article “How Not to Talk to Your Kids” by Po Bronson, these words may do more harm than good. When labeling a student “smart”, they are more likely to rely on their intelligence and disregard the importance of effort entirely. Alternatively, students should be commended for their effort. Effort-praising advocates working hard to get the results you desire. Praising students for their effort can promote them to challenge themselves, strain less, and develop growth mindsets.
Family is a strong bond that cannot be broken. In the “Key to My Father”, by Harlen Coban, the main character developes a mental picture of his father being unhip, unfit, and does what he can to provide to his family. Marc sees his father as a hardworking man that believes family comes first, but realizes that his father is unhappy. Marc seeks for clues in which he trys to find evidence to develop emotions toward his father by being proud, curious, and sad toward him.
Internet is advancing every day, parents have no idea what their kids are doing in cyberspace and are contemplating the idea of spyware. In the article, “The Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben, he argues the idea of parents putting spyware on kids’ computer is a good idea to keep the child safe. Many American parents have no idea what happens in cyberspace; sex, bullying, and drugs. Parents are torn between protecting their child with spyware and allowing the child to have privacy. Coben uses his friends’ personal experiences to support his argument without leaving room for counterarguments. By using strong emotional appeals, weak qualifiers, and sugary word choice Coben creates a weak argument that lacks persuasion.
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.
The dynamic between parents and children condition what the child will think and follow through with. It is important that child and parents establish an appropriate relationship that can guide them through their life.This struggle between parents and children as discussed in In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the life of wealthy Christopher McCandless is chronicled, and what may have drove him away to traverse the wilds of Alaska, which ultimately lead to his demise. Jon Krakauer takes the reader on ride explaining the damaged relationship between christopher and his parents using specific events and words, this shaped Christopher into the person that went into the woods to find new horizons. Krakauer does this by introducing his purpose.
In Harlan Coben 's, The Undercover Parent, Coben claims that it is okay to install spyware in children’s technological devices. He says this because it can prevent children from, “gambling away their entire life savings", or from cyberbullying others “until the point they committed suicide", or even from the situation where there was a “young boy unknowingly conversing with a pedophile” (Coben 66). However, I believe parents do not need spyware to prevent these things from happening. A parent’s job is to be aware of how their children are using technology to inform them of all the dangers that may waiting and to set rules or boundaries.
Alessandro Acquisto a professor at CMU coauthor of the study attributes the results of a recent poll to the notion of rational ignorance in the 70 percent of incorrect answers in regards to face book privacy policies (474). Many people would agree that protecting children is the parents’ responsibility. Let’s be honest though a lot of kids know more than their parents about internet usage so how helpful can the parents be to protect them properly? This is also to assume that parents are doing their job protecting their children properly. A lot of pa...
Online predators, pornography, drug trafficking, piracy, and hate sites are just some of the dangers that a child can face on the internet. The article “The Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben states that parents should use spyware to monitor their children. Coben argues that parents should be able to know what is in their children’s lives. he believes that spyware can prevent children from being targeted by internet predators on social networking sites and even prevent children from being cyber bullied. I agree with Coben’s claim that parents should consider using spyware as a protection for their teens online. There are many possible dangers facing children on the internet and it is essential that parents install spyware.
In Andrey Zvyagintsev’s The Return, a father, who has been gone for twelve years, suddenly returns to his family. He decides to take his own two children, Ivan and Andrei, on a fishing trip, and on the way, disciplines them in many lessons of life. These lessons range from principles of responsibility to surviving in the wild. Although this disciplining may seem like good parenting, there are still examples in which the father is less of an admirable person. In the end, he is inconsiderate, badly behaved, and most of all, abusive toward his own children.
According to Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey, about ninety-three Canadians have consumed alcohol their whole life. Why is this important? The novel As She Grows by Lesley Anne Cowan, written in Toronto, is based around Snow, just fifteen, who grew up without a mother or father. She was raised by her grandmother, a well-meant but mentally unstable alcoholic. Her grandmother is part of those ninety-three Canadians who have consumed alcohol their whole life. All of these people can potentially abuse alcohol, and their children would be affected by bad parenting similar to Snow. In this essay, I will be analyzing Snow’s relationship with her alcoholic grandmother, and consider the effects of bad parenting, through negative effects
I agree with Coben's argument. I agree because Coben does a good job of explaining his claim. His claim was that monitoring your child's use of the internet is a good thing to do. He has three reasons that stood out to me more than the rest. Those reasons are: monitoring your child on the internet is just another way you should watch your child, it is for the safety of your kids, and it is for the safety of their future.
¨The Undercover Parent¨ by Harlan Coben, published in an online newspaper ¨New York Times¨ (16 March 2008), claims that the Internet is dangerous for kids. Harlan Coben explains how spyware could be a resource that keeps track of our kids’ internet use, but how it could also invade sons’ and daughters’ privacy. He also claims that parents should have conversations about their concerns with teens, and let them know spyware is a possibility. In my opinion, I quite agree and do not agree with the most of it.
As technology improves, parents are exposed to new ways to ensure the safety of their child, however these precautions are an invasion of the child’s privacy. Adults
“Parents play an important role in the psychosocial development and well-being of their children” (van den Eijnden). Undeniably, the quote makes a bold declaration that all parents in today’s technologically advanced society should understand and follow. With 90% of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15 using the internet (Sorbring), it is important for an adult to monitor their daily usage and behavior. “Only 39 percent of parents report using parental controls for blocking, filtering, or monitoring their teenager’s online activities” (Dell’anotnia). Parents should monitor their teenagers’ daily internet use and behavior by engaging in meaningful conversations and dialogue that allow for fostering a healthy relationship.