Parents irked after 6-year-old girl frisked
Source: Agencies |
April 14, 2011, Thursday
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A COUPLE in Kentucky said yesterday that they want the United States Transportation Security Administration to change how it screens children after their 6-year-old daughter was frisked at the New Orleans airport.
Selena Drexel told ABC television that the family was returning home from a vacation earlier this month when their daughter Anna was selected for a pat-down.
The couple posted a video of the search on YouTube. It shows a TSA agent patting down the child and explaining the procedure to the girl and her parents. The screener says that she will use the back of her hands on sensitive areas and will "put my hand in the waistband."
Her father, Todd Drexel, says Anna was confused by the search and started crying afterward because she thought she'd done something wrong.
Selena Drexel says such searches are inappropriate for children because they're usually told not to let adults touch them in sensitive areas. She said she posted the video because she "had a very bad feeling that what happened was wrong."
In a statement, the TSA says the officer followed proper procedure but that the agency is reviewing its screening policies for "low-risk populations, such as young passengers." The statement says the agency is exploring ways to "move beyond a one-size fits all system."
TSA screeners are instructed to use a "modified" pat-down for children 12 and younger, according to the agency's website.
A congressman whose subcommittee oversees national security issues said yesterday he was "personally outraged and disgusted" over the security pat-down.
"This conduct is in clear violation of TSA's explicit policy not to conduct thorough pat-downs on children under the age of 13," Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, said in a statement.
Jennifer Mitchell, a child safety advocate, said after viewing the YouTube video that the pat-down seemed "a little invasive."
"This is a hard issue because we have national security on one hand... and children's safety on the other," said Mitchell, co-president of Child Lures Prevention, a Shelburne, Vermont, organization that works to prevent crimes against children.
Selena Drexel told ABC television that the family was returning home from a vacation earlier this month when their daughter Anna was selected for a pat-down.
The couple posted a video of the search on YouTube. It shows a TSA agent patting down the child and explaining the procedure to the girl and her parents. The screener says that she will use the back of her hands on sensitive areas and will "put my hand in the waistband."
Her father, Todd Drexel, says Anna was confused by the search and started crying afterward because she thought she'd done something wrong.
Selena Drexel says such searches are inappropriate for children because they're usually told not to let adults touch them in sensitive areas. She said she posted the video because she "had a very bad feeling that what happened was wrong."
In a statement, the TSA says the officer followed proper procedure but that the agency is reviewing its screening policies for "low-risk populations, such as young passengers." The statement says the agency is exploring ways to "move beyond a one-size fits all system."
TSA screeners are instructed to use a "modified" pat-down for children 12 and younger, according to the agency's website.
A congressman whose subcommittee oversees national security issues said yesterday he was "personally outraged and disgusted" over the security pat-down.
"This conduct is in clear violation of TSA's explicit policy not to conduct thorough pat-downs on children under the age of 13," Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, said in a statement.
Jennifer Mitchell, a child safety advocate, said after viewing the YouTube video that the pat-down seemed "a little invasive."
"This is a hard issue because we have national security on one hand... and children's safety on the other," said Mitchell, co-president of Child Lures Prevention, a Shelburne, Vermont, organization that works to prevent crimes against children.
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