TSA Abuse of Power
 

On the special security screening line at SEA there was a mother and her two bratty teenagers who obviously didn't fly much (but just might be terrorists !). They were in front of the machines next to an agent handling the incoming bags when the sister was annoying her brother and he hit her in the arm hard. Immediately the screener (a female) said that he needed to cut that out or she'd make sure he didn't fly. Seemed to me that it was none of her business and that if she did keep him from flying that it would be an abuse of her power.

But the screener didn't keep the kid from flying, did she?

So the TSA managed to shut up a "bratty teenager." Sounds like no one is really worse off here...

But then someone couldn't complain here.

Child is not listening to their mother, mother says pointing to a screener "be nice or they will arrest you". Guess the screener is abusing their power by just being there.

Hmmmm, is it SOP to allow passengers who assault other passengers in plain view of the checkpoint to fly?

Seems to me like the screener used quite a bit of discretion. If I were a screener, I might have called over an LEO to deal with it (who probably would have given the kids a quick word and let them go, but it would still put them on notice that this is not acceptable behavior).

It seems the screener was just being curteous and proactive by preventing two "bratty" kids from beating up on each other. At an airport, passengers should not be giving any indications they may cause roudy or unpleasant behavior infligt; security is not there only to prevent terrorism, but also to ensure an overall safe journey. British Airways and British airports regularly refused to board passengers that are too rowdy or drunk or whatever. This seems no exception.

However, don't get me wrong. Abuses of power by the now overzealous US government are quite frightening. And I very much find many security measures unnecessary (i.e. not effective).

The fact is, it was a lie. The screener has no authority to keep kids from flying based on those actions. If I was the parent, I would've filed a complaint.

In this story, the screener never claimed to have that authority. But the LEO almost certainly does. Personally I don't want brawling passengers on my flights or in my airport, whether they're teenagers or not. If parents want to decide when it's okay for their kids to fight, then they shouldn't let them leave the house. You don't get an automatic exemption from generally and legally accepted behavior just for being under 18.

The original poster said "she said she'd make sure he didn't fly." That is an unequivocal claim of authority. As a parent I'd complain because children need to be taught that it isn't acceptable for members of the government to lie to the public. Often I look around and wish that our parents had done that for us.

I think you need to relax and stop using any little thing to jump all over and complain. Be honest, you could care less what happen here. It is just an excuse to complain about the TSA.

What the screener said wasn't anything unusual anywhere else. I have heard something similar in a movie theater when an usher told kids to calm down or they would be able to watch the movie, bus driver tell kids they couldn't ride the bus unless they were good, a father tell his kids they weren't going anywhere in the car unless they settled down.

You are kidding, right?

The only way to really test whether she could do that or not is to take her up on her dare. :)

As a private citizen I can claim to make sure someone is arrested without having the authority to do so myself.

No, I don't want to deal with fighting people, whether they're teenagers or adults or whatever. And they shouldn't be on planes.

Failure of the imagination there.. another way to test it is to call over a supervisor. ;)

What would the complaint have said? I can't stop my kids making a nuisance of themselves so I want to complain about the person who did quiet them down.

I've been there, too. I had a mother tell their children to behave or I was going to send them to jail. All I was doing was helping load items into the xray. Who's abusing the power here? Obviously, the mother is.