I have a problem with my parents. Everytime I get a letter in the mail, regardless if its junk or not, they feel the need to go through my mail and I've brought this up to them and they've said "Oh, but we're you parents and we have a right too. Are you trying to hide something?" I'm just like, no, its mine and you shouldn't read it. Of course up till now I really didn't care as much, but I am getting college letters (like acceptence or rejection letters) and they open it and I am kind of ticked off with that. I mean, I came home from work today to find my letters from Temple and Albright opened on the kitchen table. All the other letters I really don't care, but these college letters I think I have a right to open them. Do you guys think I'm just being weird because I mean, I understand they are excited to see if I got in but I still think I should have the opportunity to open it because I am the one going to college. So what should I do?

i don't know. personally, i think, if you're an adult [which i don't know if you are or not] and the mail is addressed to you, then you should have to right to open it. you should tell your parents that if the letter is addressed solely to you, that it shouldn't be their business. if it says "to the parents of: ____" then they can? you should just set boundaries with them, and explain that you'd like to open the letters since they're important to you, and you'll tell them what's inside.

Eh, I'm 17 and a senior in HS. I have told them before that it is my letter, but like I said before they just come in and are like "We're your parents, what are you trying to hide?" No matter what I say, they just keep using the same excuse.

I personally will not care if my parents did it because I don't like opening letters and envelopes anyway.

In a way though, I do find it sort of invading your privacy and I think you just clearly state your opinion. As with college letters, you should either just deal with it or maybe come back from work a little bit earlier to get the mail.

it is your mail. talk to your parents again. tell them that it is your mail and especially with your college letters, say that you want to be the first one to read it. it's not that you have anything to hide but it is your own personal mail and it is a federal offense to open other's mail other than your own. if they don't understand, threaten to open up all their mail for them. or... in a less rebellious way... explain that your privacy is important, just like theirs are. they might be your parents but you have rights too. they are not entitled to everything and they need to respect you. if they want a good relationship, you have to trust them and right now, you aren't. if worse comes to worse, (if my parents did that), i would throw a hissy fit and scream. get their mail and rip it up.

you could also reroute your mail. go to the post office. i think you can direct your mail to a new place like a po box.

My parents would beat me to death if I ever said that and I think it might be a hassle to redirect my mail, but I might end up doing that just because of this. The only thing though is, I honestly don't care with all of mail but the college letters are something I want to be the first to open.



I usually work from about 4-close and my mail comes about 5 daily. I can't take my break till about 7 or 8.

Another way would be just to ask your parents if they can wait 3 hours to open the mail. Honestly are they that desperate to know?

What Endless said is probably the best idea. Go to the post office and tell them to hold your mail. Everyday after work you can route your way there and get it.

But your parents might know and might go back to the post office and tell them to send it.

not without his permission. the federal law is very clear that the person that the letter is addressed to, should be the one to open it. they cannot go and get the mail sent back to the house when they cannot prove they are the people the mail is addressed to.

i am not sure how it works. on usps.com, you get redirect your mail but only if you are moving. you should go to the post office and figure it out.

UPSP HOLD MAIL SERVICE
USPS REDIRECTING: you can send it to a PO box (enter the address in the street field) but it has to be a USPS PO box. it would cost quite a bit of money. PO BOX RENTAL FEES

i think you should at least give talking to your parents another try.

no, i think youre being normal. my dad used to do that, too. and he said the exact same thing. until i just started opening my dads letters because i got ahold of a spare mail key. then he realize how he was being annoying and he stopped.

UPDATEEEE
So I talked to my parents about it, and my dad flippppeeed sh*t like no other and I don't understand why. He took my car away for some odd reason...like what to overreact. He was like "It's my f*cking right to look through the letters because it's my f*cking house. You don't f*cking talk to your mom like that and treat her like a f*cking slave." I'm just like, I just asked her why did she open my mail, that's it. My parents are crazyyy, but I'm doing that mail holding thing now. He told me next time he gets any of my letters that he is going to trash them...good luck with that dad. =) Thanks for the help...now I just need to figure out how to get my car back

wow... your parents really... went... off the roof.

i hate parents who are like, i gave you life, i can do whatever i want. or it's my house, my rules.

sigh. good luck.

Dude. Just suck it up. They're your parents. Big deal.
You're complaining about the college letters. You're not going to be getting letters from them untily you're dead. It'll be over in a few months.

college letters?
well, if they open them or not, you're gonna show them anyway.
-----
tell them that you're not trying to hide anything, but it's YOUR mail and you have the 'right to read your letters first.'
&
ask them why they wanna read your mail so bad..

If it's any comfort, my parents are just the same. They insist on opening report cards before I know my grades and reading letters from friends.

Then when I say anything, they're just all, "You're so ungrateful, we raised you up for blahblahblah years, we let you go to school, so we get to open your mail. You're terrible."

According to them, I don't have a right to read my letters first and they read my mail because they want to and I have no say in it.

But whatever...

Uh, the law doesn't apply to minors. Parents have a right to keep tabs on their children's lives. It's called "raising kids".