TSA Goes Extreme or TSA is Being Cautionary?

With new restrictions, and a few old removed, there is still plenty of uproar about the screening for security at airports. One of the biggest problems being brought up is the question on whether pat downs are really needed for kids and the elderly or not.

Recently, a young boy with his parents, two siblings and his grandparents were ready to get on the plane for a Disney vacation. When passing through security the young boy (3 years old) was pulled aside for more direct screening. The boy, in a wheelchair and leg cast, had to be patted down and have his cast swabbed. The family was told they couldn’t intervene so they weren’t allowed to touch him. During the pat down, the little boy reached out to his father wanting his dad to hold his hand and give him a hug because he was trembling with fear. All his parent could do was act like it was all okay so the boy wouldn’t feel the need to panic. The TSA even swabbed the boy’s hands twice to look for traces of explosives.

In this same situation, an elderly person also gets pulled aside for screening; an elderly person with a cane. The video of this recent incident is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YNO-AzPxS4U#!

Other incidents that relate to this include a baby that got pat down in May 2011. One man took a picture of a woman being held aside by the TSA officers while her son, an infant, gets a pat down. He then posted the picture on Twitter exclaiming that this was too extreme. This picture wound up getting over 310,000 views.

Another incident includes a 6 year old girl receiving a pat down. In the video it shows a TSA agent explaining the procedure to the girl’s mother and then pulling the girl aside. She makes the girl spread out her arms and legs and tells her they will have to pat down “sensitive areas”. The young girl complains to her mom and asks if she could just be re-scanned. Her father said that she began to cry after the pat down.

The TSA has been pressured to change the rules now because of criticism of these incidents. Soon they will no longer require children under the age of 12 to remove their shoes for screening. They will also have modified pat downs as well as reduce the number of pat downs given to children. This means that the TSA will have the children walk through metal detectors and imaging machines multiple times to capture a clear picture and they will be using hand swabs more often to detect traces of explosives.

I understand the concern of having to watch your kids be scared of being pat down, but at the same time, it needs to be done. If it’s such a problem then just drive to your destination because it’s actually cheaper than flying these days. A terrorist would be smart to tell a kid to hide an explosive or to somehow attach it to an elderly person because they aren’t the normal suspects. The TSA is doing their job of keeping this country safe.

I never flew on a plane until 8^th grade. Up until then, my parents always drove us on vacation because we didn’t have the money for flights when we were really young. I think that’s a safer route to go. Wait until your kids can understand the TSA’s motives before you make them go on a plane. I understand if the TSA pulled me aside that all they are trying to do is make sure all the passengers will be safe on the flight. Because I understand that, I wouldn’t be afraid or have some huge issue with being pat down. I get that it’s invasive but really, I’d rather have that than be killed by someone’s hidden bomb.