Why did she read it?

Curiosity I'd say

Maybe she was worried about the wellbeing of her daughter...

keep your diary hidden then

Password journals FTW!

I don't keep a diary but an electronic one does sound safer

Do we even want to know what was in there...?

Nope probably not :) y else would she call the psychiatrist.

What, did you write that you were planning to go kill someone or something?

You obviously wrote some disturbing shit in there. YDI

It's her diary, she can write whatever the hell she wants in it...and her mom had absolutely no right to invade her privacy like that. She also shouldn't have booked the appointment with a psychiatrist without even talking to her daughter first...

I don't think it's that obvious. Maybe OP wrote about how insecure she sometimes is, how unloved and unappreciated she sometimes feels, how she wishes to be someone else or to be dead... you know, the typical teenage problems. Maybe she didn't write the slighest disturbing thing and isn't cutting herself, maybe her mom is just overreacting, who knows. Fact is, snooping parents will eventually lost their children's trust and a forced visit to a psychiatrist will probably do nothing.

But if a parent is worried they do have a right to look. I can see it from both sides. I want my privacy too. But if my child ever makes me worry I might resort to that

I get your point and I agree, but I think that if a parent reads her kid's diary, (s)he must keep the secret. Telling: "I have read your diary and I think it's good for you if you went to a psychiatrist" will not make the relationship between parent and child and the feelings of the child better, on the contrary. It would be way better if the mother started a conversation with her child about his/her feelings without reveiling she read the diary.

6- you're assuming that all parents are rational, reasonable human beings when it comes to their children.

#6 In a journal, I wrote "I hate stupid dogs" (the apartment above ours has a very hyperactive Doberman). My mother read this, and then signed me up for a counselor because she thought my use of "hate" was equal to me performing animal abuse in secret. Not all parents are sensible.

Few are actually

Bahahahaha sucks to be you, you must be a mental case if she "franticaly" booked an appt. so maybe YDI?!

More like a case of "classic teenage writing", not something crazy like "go columbine at the school".

...and you laugh and though she deserves to be a mental case? Fuck you...

I'd rather be a mental case than an ignorant assface like yourself. Mission accomplished, as that is already the case.

You're a bitch. You do realize that, right? Asshole....

7: people can't really help those kinds of things, most of the time it's a chemical imbalance in their brain that causes them to feel/ act a certain way.

Yall can hate, just speaking my mind.

112- I think in your case the mind is definitely not on the outside for a reason.

How thoughtful of her.

In his truck?

Dear diary, I hate my life

Dear Diary,

I got mosquito bytes, may as well jump off a bridge.

Dear diary

Today I read multiple idiotic and close-minded comments by a moron that thinks Es and 3s are the same thing.

It's not OPs house. She should have no expectation of privacy. That has to be earned.

Awww that sucks, your mom had no right to invade your privacy =[

Of course, she does!

Civil liberties, like the right to privacy, are between people and their governments, not between parents and their children. Parents not only have the right, but the responsibility, to keep an eye on their children and intervene if something is going awry with them.

Clever parents will give their kids the illusion that they have privacy, but they will discreetly monitor them.

Cue Perdix getting thumbed down by 14 year olds and non-parents. He's 100% right, though.

Damn straight!

The problem with parents denying their children privacy is that it is unfortunately completely natural for them to overreact to normal teenage problems and situations, which in the end often leads to sheltered idiots with no mind of their own. Honestly, it depends on the kids. Some really can't be trusted. However, others, if they feel they can trust you, can come to you themselves with any problems they might have. There is no one type fits all parenting method.

52 - I'm 15 and thumbed Perdix up, he is completely right. I can't imagine what having children would be like but I would do everything in my power to protect them, if it meant invading their privacy so be it.