Would you read your child's diary?

DATA-DOG

This is obviously a question for parents. I have made my decision, but I am interested in your views and feelings. If you are a young person, I would be interested in your thoughts and feelings too.

Peace,

DD

Tater-T

no.. make that a big HELL NO!! earning your childs TRUST... the most important part of being a PARENT... if they cant trust YOU ..

WELL IF YOU DON'T GET THAT, THEN YOU DON'T GET IT!!

My mother read my diary. I felt it was an invasion of my privacy. My mother went on to do others things to invade that privacy after I became an adult. I don't do that to my children but I do require that I have access to their email accounts. When my oldest recently turned 18 I dropped my access to his email.

EntirelyPossible

Well, the accounts you know about, MJ ;)

mrsjones5

True, my daughter is a sneaky one. She had a FB account for a few months before I was made aware of it. Her brother outed her.

lovelylil

My daughter who is 20 has always kept a diary or journal to write her thoughts in and NO, NO NO I have NEVER read it nor would I ever do that. I also believe you need to trust your kids and they need to trust you too. We have a very good relationship and she knows she can come to me about anything, even when she was a young teen and I would never judge her.

That being said she is entitled to her privacy and private thoughts. So I never agreed with parents who would invade their child's privacy. The only exception would be IF you believe your child is in imminent danger or involved in dangerous activities, such as drug abuse. Then I would make an exception, otherwise no I would not read my child's diary.

eva luna

I agree with Tater. A big fat NO!

I say this from raising children and being one too.

If you are worried about some dangerous behavior, take them to a therapist. They have to report it.

Most important, you need to establish trust. They should feel comfortable talking to parents. If they find out you have read private writings, you ruin all that and may never get it back. It also can set up a life long feeling of distrust, from my view.

As a parent, we may not realize things have changed , our children are growing up. We need to learn new ways of parenting.

All the best to you Data

eva

tec

As a rule, no.

With a possible exception such as your child has been taken to the hospital for drugs or something; something that shows she/he is in danger of hurting self or others.

Peace,

tammy

designs

If my child was doing well and happy then no I would not read their diary or go through their personal belongings. If they were showing the oppositie signs I would talk first and then look for drugs.

finally awake

My mother read my diary when I was a teen. I was horrified and offended at the time, but later came to realize that she had legitimate reason to be worried about me. She punished me severely for what she read in my diary, which didn't seem quite fair at the time, but I certainly deserved punishment for doing the things I documented in my diary.

As a mother now, I wouldn't read my kid's diary unless I was seriously concerned about what they were up to. I wouldn't volunteer that I had done so to my kid though.

Would you read your child's diary?

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