Big Brother Meets Big Mother Analysis

The San Diego County District Attorney states: “Close to 62% of teens say their parents know little or nothing about the websites they visit.” There are many parents who have different perspectives on whether they should monitor their teens devices or not. Many teens are better equipped when they have their parents by their side to guide and be a role model to them. Parents who monitor their teens will keep them out of the dangers of cyberbullying and communicating with unknown people despite the responsibility teens might learn without .On the the other side of the spectrum, some parents believe that it’s not necessary to guide their children through every step, but instead let them off to learn on their own and take responsibility in their
As a result, teens often put themselves in very dangerous situations because they do not think about the consequences of their actions. In the article “Big Brother Meets Big Mother,” Ellen Goodman states, “But even if kids aren't wandering in the neighborhood, they are wandering in the Internet with all of its unknown cul-de-sacs.What teenagers claim as MySpace, parents often see as an unmonitored public zone that leads predators to their doorstep.” (1). In agreement with Goodman, teens view many pieces content that might be beyond their emotional maturity. These teens could be talking to a criminal or even a well known sex offender. For this reason, parents have the right to violate their teens privacy even if they do not suspect they are doing something wrong. To also agree with Goodman: “At the same time, parents are expected to know and control everything their children watch, eat, do - where they are, who they are texting, what channels and websites they are viewing”(1). Parents need to take control: they are parents, not friends to their children. They have a duty to make sure their teen is safe and not talking to individuals who could potentially harm them. However, this is not the only danger, if parents do not monitor their teen’s screens, activities such as sharing private body parts online, bullying and even posting personal information could potentially harm them or others.
This only happens when parents monitor their teens and not letting them off the leash. On the other hand, Donna St George argues in The Washington Post, “I think it’s absolutely critical for their development — to learn responsibility, to experience the world, to gain confidence and competency.” (1) This is a false dilemma because the author is only providing one option. George did not attempt to view the other side. One could agree that yes, teens will be able to fulfill more skills on their own if their parents aren’t spying on them, but letting teens take action in their own hands is very dangerous and can lead to many negative consequences. For example in the article “The Undercover parent,” 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. He wisely took a deep breath before confronting her.”(2) When parents allow their teens to learn skills on their own, it may result in a negative effect. Usually, good grades represent a good person, so in the example above,the parents didn’t suspect anything bad coming from their straight A daughter. Since the daughter’s parents allowed her to take actions to her own hands, she was doing drugs which her parents did not know about until they used Spyware. In taking a closer look, one could agree that Wallace’s