Parents have a Legal Right to the control of any property of a minor child. This includes reading a diary or searching a room for contraband items, based on household rules. The only protection that children have legally from their parents is related to neglect, abuse or in the instance where another person has created a trust or similar instrument to prevent parental tampering with an inheritance.

Only, and I say only, if the parents have reason to believe thier child is commiting a criminal or immoral act. privacy is precious and should always be respected. a diary is as personal as it gets. reading a childs diary, just for the fun of it, can devastate your relations. a parent reading a childs diary, is like your neighbor coming over and looking through your checkbook. As a parent, you may have the right, but be sure you know the consequences, if you are discovered. it can ruin your family.

NO parents don't have the right to go into their children rooms and read their personnaly diaries or anything else for that matter. Children need their privacy just as much as parents do, and then need a special place to write their feeling out.

If the child is under 18 you have the legal right to read their diaries go through their stuff, take things away etc, if you feel it necessary. In some situations, such as if you are doing it to attempt to discover something that you think is upsetting your child (e.g. you believe he or she may be being bullied) or think they may be involved in criminal activity- it may be considered morally justifiable. However I wouldn't say this necessarily means its a good idea. Its my opinion, through experience and observation that a lot of parents actually push their child "off the rails" so to speak by putting over the top restrictions on their freedom and privacy. By secretly prying, going through their things, reading their diaries etc, you are destroying the bond of trust that is essential between parent and child. If a child (particularly a daughter, I think) discovers that you have been reading her private diary, even if you believe it to be for her own good, she will likely never trust you again. You will have broken a bond between you that may never be repaired. She won't stop doing the things that horrified you, she will do them more, and just take greater steps to ensure you don't find out. The only behaviour you're likely to stop by reading a private diary, is the habit of keeping a diary- you will never know what she is up to again. Far better to give your child a little space and respect their privacy- instead of secretly prying, encourage an open and trusting relationship. Encourage your child from an early age to talk to you about matters such as sex, drugs, problems at school- encourage them to share their feelings and be sympathetic rather than judgemental. If you act as if you are trying to understand then its much more likely that you will be the first person they come to for advice should a problem occur. I recently read a survey that said young girls who had felt comfortable talking to their parents about sexual matters, and had received good sex education were much less likely to have an unwanted pregnancy than girls whose parents had put super-strict restrictions on their activities and panicked everytime they went out with a boy without explaining the reasons for their concerns. The best thing that a parent can do for their child's welfare is to foster a mutually respectful relationship with them and encourage them to feel that they can talk about their problems and ask for advice from their parents. Invading privacy and going through their things is destructive of this bond, and if the bond is close enough, you shouldn't feel as if you need to read their diaries to find out whether they're OK.

Recently it was decided in the Supreme Court that a parent can violate a childs privacy. A case was over turned when testamony from a mom who had listened in on her daughter's phone conversation where her boyfriend admited to a robbery. It was decided this was a violation of the 14 year olds rights. I may only be 21 years old, with no intentions of having kids yet but I do believe a good parent has a right/need to look in on theirs kids life. My mom snooped. At the time I hated it, mostly cause how she went about it. But looking back I think it is important to do. The above law does not mean your kid has controll over what you see. It only means that anything you learn in that way can not be used in a court room. If you are worried about your kid doing drugs, involved in illigal activity, or one not mentioned often suicideal tendancy take time to look. But as mentioned above, respect your kid still. Just like the police can't search for no reason, no should any parent. Take the time to sit and talk with your kid. Keep a level voice (count on them not to) and make a list before hand about what you think you should do. Good luck to all of you

As a teen my mom rummaged through my things when I was out of the house all the time, I hated her for it, I thought it was an invasion of privacy and It hurt my feeling, as an adult, I am so thankful she did, I realize now that she was looking out for me, and I love her for doing it. Diaries are crossing the line though, sometimes kids write stories, poems and make things up just to read them, you could take things out of context. Do what feels right to you, knowing your child/children are human beings with rights.

i dont thing they should my mum did it to me she went through my computer and i hate her for it it will take time for me to trust her again but i no that if i was her mum i know i would not go thorugh her stuff because i hate my priversy been disturbed sooo y would i do it to her

That's a complete and utter invastion of privacy! If you were a kid, would you want your mom or dan go through your diary, which has all of your secret thoughts, ideas and feelings? I don't think so, I know I wouldn't.

I don't think so, even if the parent is worried that their child is up to activities that are bad for them e.g. getting involved in gangs or something. A good parent should foster an environment of trust and where the child felt they could talk about things, and snooping through diaries is counter productive to that. The UN convention on children's rights includes the child's right to privacy, which is one of the reasons the USA won't ratify it. I believe that children do have the right to have their privacy respected and to make decisions about their lives, but these rights are often ignored because children are not seen as full citizens or of capable of making those decisions, when they actually may well be.

Only if they had legiment reason. My parents never invaded my privacy. But if they suspected that something was going then they have every right. Remember it their house and the law is on their side

If it's in their home, I don't see why not.

Who uses a diary anymore? If i want to have a secret Ill keep it in my head.

NO! Children are human beings and need to be respected. My parents never did this to me, I would hate them for it!

Absolutely not.

Yes! This is my house & rules! If you are hinding things from me then you must know it is WRONG! I have a very open relationship with my son. So I have never had to do that. But wouldn't hesitate to do so, if I felt I needed to. Good question Anon. +5 . Though I don't feel the need to read the diary. Not sure cause I have never been in that situation with my son. . I was raised pretty stricked! So my room was always being looked into. Crazy, cause if the parent thinks he/she will find something they are wrong. If you knew your parents went through your room from time to time, who would leave that sort of stuff hangin' around.

They absolutely do. Children have no privacy and limited rights and that;s the governments fault. You may not be aware but do you know that in most states if your child doesn't go to school the courts hold the parent responsible, yet if you force them into the car and into the school even if you don't hit them just pull and push them into the car and in the door of the school then the courts can charge you with abuse! Its this bullshit that takes away their privacy because as a parent in today's BS system if you don't know what they are doing before they do it you could be in legal trouble. If the government let parents raise their kids again then it can go back to kids having a certain amount of freedom. Thankfully I had great martial arts parents that raised me with military efficiency and consistency so I don't have to deal with crazy kids but as a law enforcement officer I see it all the time.

Children have privacy too. However, if there is compelling reason to believe that a child or teen may be involved in something serious, than I would say it is reasonable to check the diaries and then talk to them tactfully about what you find, if anything. Whatever you do, don't freak out on them. They will never trust you again.

Only if its for the childs own good, if they are not bad kids I dont see why they would have to.

No! I know some parents have open relationships with their children, so the going into their room thing maybe isnt so bad, but I think it's very wrong for parents to go through their kids diaries.

No. When I was a child, my journal was a place for my most intimate thoughts & feelings that I didn't share with anyone & my mother snooped through my room & jumped to conclusions & got angrier with everything she found. Then she'd yell & punish me for it. She turned what was an safe outlet for me into something dangerous & wrong & it destroyed my childhood relationship with her. & then she wondered why I never trusted her with aspects of my life as a teenager. She & I still have problems with each other & I'm a grown man.

No. A diary is an extention of your private thoughts. Everyone, even children, have a right to keep their private thoughts private.

They have the right because they are responsible for their children under age 18. But I would never go through my daughter's things unless I had a very good reason to. She is entitled to her privacy.

Until you reach the age of majority (read unti you are eighteen in most states), your parents are responsible for your behaviour. If you screw up they can be prosecuted. Think about it! What you write in your diary isn't always private.

No everyone deserves their privacy. They can find out what you are up to by spending time with you.

I dont think a parent has the right to go through their childs things. I was always tought that every citizen is equal, and will be treated that way. This just means that a teen should have the right to their privacy if an adult has this same right. But if the LAW from since my nation was created is WRONG, then so be it. It may not be against the law to go through your childs things, but shouldn't you have a concience if you do it over and over again. I have always believed in the saying, "do unto others as you would expect them to do to you" (not 100% correct, but you get the idea)so wouldn't, as a parent going through their childs thigns on a daily basis, this go through your head a couple of times..? The big issue with this is that, the more a parent goes through their childs things, the more pissed off the child will become. Even if you dont do anything bad, the more pissed off you get at your parents, the more likely you are to do bad things. The same thing goes for people who actually do bad things, the more pissed off you become at your parents, the more bad things you will do. I know this to be 100% true because I experience this on a daily basis.

That's one thing I will never say yes to. If your a good parent you wouldn't have to go through your child's diary to see if they're lying to you about something or to find out if they're doing something bad like drugs. And it also shows that you don't trust your child to do the right thing.

My parents went through my room on multiple occasions and read my diary which I hated and could not tolerate - a diary is a VERY personal thing and unless the writer gives you direct permission then no one should read it, especially parents. If you had an open, honest relationship with your children then there should be no need to go through your childs personal belongings unless they were doing something illegal. And then you should probably talk to them about it first rather then go through their stuff.

I'm going to have to say the unpopular answer and go with yes. I believe that writing negative things only re-enforces them, and private thoughts such as, "I hate this person, I wish I were dead" shouldn't be re-enforced. I will encourage my kids to keep journals, which are completely different. They just keep a record of what's going on in your life, and I will let them know that I expect to be allowed to read them. I believe that kids should be allowed their privacy, not secrecy. There's a difference.

the right, yes if they did you probably gave them reason not to trust you You use the word 'right' should they maybe not, but there is no law against it, or nothing on the bill of rights that protects a childs right to privacy in the home that their parents provide for them