Ethical decision--Should I have deleted the file?

Question

So, I was finishing a school project on my mom's laptop. I mistakenly opened a Word document entitled "You," instead of my homework, which was similarly titled.

"You" was an angry letter from my mom to my dad. It accused him of various shortcomings that I didn't know existed, including of him being alcoholic. As far as I know, he barely drinks at all.

She was either extremely angry or under PMS. The latter seems unlikely, considering she's 54 and post-menopausal.

I blew "You" away, eradicating it and even running a search for duplicates, before covering my tracks. There were none, but I can't rule out hard copies. It will NEVER see the light of day.

Should I have deleted it?

Answer 1

NO YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE DELETED THE FILE. IT WASNT YOURS TO GET RID OF.
THEY ARE YOUR PARENTS WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH THEY TRY TO KEEP TO THEMSELVES. MOST PARENTS ARE SECRETIVE UPTO A CERTAIN EXTENT. YOU MAY BE THE CHILD BUT YOU DONT KNOW EVERYTHING THAT GOES ON.

Answer 2

No, you do not have considered it. Your mom may were blowing off steam yet she must have deleted it in case you make the most of her pc. it may have extra effective to easily have left out it. once you've been married for countless years, you'll discover out in basic terms how not uncomplicated it really is and how a lot artwork it really is to stay with someone. many human beings write in journals to handle their emotions and journals are deepest as her letter ought to were. because she wrote it does not propose she became going to print it. you want to inform your mom you opened the letter by technique of mistake and skim it, became disillusioned and deleted it. make an apology for butting into her business enterprise and ask her not something about what she wrote. tell her you'll not in any respect communicate of something you examine because you recognize those were her deepest innovations. Now ignore it. Later . . .you are able to prefer to have her set up a private folder with a password purely she knows so that you do not stumble into something else.

Answer 3

Leave things as they are ,,,, If either one of your parents wants you to know something then they will seek you out to tell you ,,,, Even if it was unintentional you need to stop snooping ,,,, What goes on between your parents is their business until they let you in on it ,,,, Your deleting something or anything isn't going to change the situation and neither is your knowing about it ,,,, Don't let either of them know what you ran across ,,,, You just might get your face slapped and lose your esteem with either one or both of them ,,,, Another way to look at it is put yourself in your mothers place or rather if you had something on the computer that was private would you want anyone snooping behind your back intentional or not ,,,, Back out of this as quick as you can and leave sleeping dogs lay ,,,,

Answer 4

as a mother myself, i have to say you were very wrong for doing that to your moms file.
maybe that was just her way of venting.
she will now wonder (and probably blame your dad for deleting her file) you may have opened the door for a big fight between your parents.
parents have to work things out for themselves. you should never get in the middle of things.
as for your dads alcohol problem. a true alcoholic doesn't openly reveal themselves. as a young person dealing with your own problems you could have over looked it.
do yourself a favor and leave your moms personal files alone.
some day you might read something you really do not want to know.

Answer 5

You should not have read it, once you realized that it was not yours.
But I can understand the temptation.
I won't decide whether you should have deleted it. If you shouldn't have, there's no great damage done. If you should have, you were right.
Your mom can always write another hate letter if she wants to.
Who knows what was on her mind when she wrote it? We don't know whether she ever delivered a copy of it, or intended to.
It was private, actually not your business.

Answer 6

Um,no.It was a personal document that you deleted.Chances are it would have never seen the light of day anyway.Your mum was probably just 'venting' her anger.Anyway,if she had planned on giving it to your dad,that's her business.As far as you know,your dad hardly drinks.I didn't even know my pop drank at all until one day i saw him sober.Your mum would be far more aware of his shortcomings than you ever will be-i would fess up to her and apologise to her for stepping over the line.

Answer 7

NO. Not your computer, or your marriage. Lots of people draft letters of frustration and never give them to the party their angry/hurt/upset about. She may have already given it to him.
I believe you opened the file on accident, but there's no good reason to read it. You always find things you don't want to see when you invade another's privacy.

Answer 8

I wouldn't have. Your mother is - shock horror, human - and she's entitled to her feelings and privacy. Even if you opened the file in error you could have simply closed it.

Answer 9

I think you did a good thing because sometimes people do things out of anger and regret it later.I am not telling u to lie to your parents just don't say anything unless they ask.If she asks you be truthful.I understand why you did it though she would have regreted it anyway.....

Answer 10

No. Its not your computer, not your letter, not your right. You violated her privacy. If she thought it was really a problem she would have told you. Dude, you had no right