Originally Posted by
PA-Flyer
If I actually decide to subject myself and my children to this nonsense in order to attend my grandmother's funeral, I'll be doing the grope not the NOS. There will be no groping of my kids. They are in early elementary school which should prevent them from having to be assaulted. I will take the offer of "not flying today" if they insist on patting down my kids. I'd like to see them try to fine or arrest me for refusing to let my small children get touched. I have friends with the legal resources, contacts at several media outlets and am irritated enough to fight it.
Thanks all.
Children under 12 can be selected for a so-called modified patdown, but TSA has refused to discuss exactly how it differs from a regular patdown.
But it's important to remember that you're not allowed to just leave once you "begin the screening process", you can be questioned and fined. Also, you could get stuck with a long, expensive drive home, if your children are selected for a "modified patdown" on the return trip.
So it might be better to leave the kids at home for this, since it avoids both privacy issues for you and sexual abuse dangers for them.
Off-topic, but my recollection is "professional consensus" is that young children should be encouraged to attend the funeral of (G-d forbid) a parent or sibling, at least briefly, to help them understand. But with more distant relatives, they don't have the same need for closure of a life-long relationship that older children and adults do. But of course, all people are different.