Pyridine

Just joined FT after having spent quite some time browsing through these forums.

As said in the topic, I am a 17 year old girl. I am also pretty (according to some of the posts I have read on here, and from other sites, this may have some relevance...now you may begin trolling ><).

My family and I are going on vacation soon (have already processed the tickets, and I am less than thrilled at the prospect of having naked pictures taken of me, nor at being molested by a stranger, regardless of thier gender. I'm also not very happy about likely placing my parents in an awkward situation if (more than likely, when) I refuse to have either of these things happen to me. As I am still a minor, if my parents want me to fly with them, do I have a choice at opting out of these things?

I have already checked the listings of airports at which these machines are in operation, and my airport was listed.

Thanks in advance for any non-trolling replies.

InkUnderNails

If you will post the airports you will be visiting, you may find that there are ways to miss the scanners. Our folks here will let you know. If you will be in airports that have them, you may not have an option, but you still might be directed through the metal detectors and not the scanner.

Most important, as a very aware young woman, sit down with your parents and have a nice long talk about your concerns. Have some of the info from the web sites available. In the end, you and your parents will need to decide.

beauvoir

Make sure your family is there to watch the grope down, and if you are touched in a way that is inappropriate, you should SCREAM.

Also make sure to file a report with the ACLU here if there is abuse:
http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-l...n-search-abuse

Fortunately as a 17 year-old girl, you will have a lot of sympathy that would not be available for older people or for males.

Good luck!

Pyridine

For security reasons (irony?), I'd rather not disclose that kind of information. My mother flew the other day, and I asked her if she had gone through the scanner, and she replied that she had only gone through the metal detector. So I suppose there is hope, but I would rather be safe than sorry. xD

Was my plan if it came down to that.

TheOneTheOnly

If possible and you're traveling within a coutry, you should also look into its rail network, Amtrak for the U.S., Via Rail for Canada, and of course the European network...
But I have yet to hear of insta-porns (nude-o-scopes) or molestations at rail stations, so far the worst in the U.S. has been metal detectors and random bag searches and of course the restrictions are VERY MUCH less than airlines.
Train travel can be very relaxing and depending on your city pairs can be your hotel AND transportation.

SpatialD

Send your parents to fedupflyers.org and share some of the threads on this site with them that describe exactly what is going on. If they still don't get it after that, honestly, I recommend you put your foot down. You're almost an adult now anyway. Just be sure to behave like one and not a whiny brat who doesn't want to go to Grandma's for Thanksgiving!

El Cochinito

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

I can empathize with your situation - I have a 14 y.o. son who loves to travel with me and has the type of personality where he isn't afraid to open up his mouth and say something.

We've talked about the nude-o-scope and grope. He has emphatically told me that he doesn't want to be virtually strip searched and understands that means he will be felt up by a TSO. However he fully intends to shout out in a very loud voice if/when he is touched in his privates, "Don't touch my penis!!!"

Besides your own aforementioned scream you may also want to state something similar (albeit anatomically correct of course!).

danielonn

As a frequent traveler in my 20s and traveled quite a bit as a teenager I can see where you are coming from. When September 11th hit I could mot believe my eyes what I saw. I went to my High School's library and saw the events unfold. About a month later I took a trip to Chicago and then later on we took a family trip to Arizona along with trips to visit the grandparents.

At no time did I feel insecure flying. As you will see here on Flyertalk its mostly about the destination. Going through the airport can be hard which is why I arrive at least 2 hours if not more depending on whether the flight is an international flight, domestic flight or a busy travel day.

I honestly can say this should not stop you from going considering the tickets have been booked. I enjoy spending time in airline clubs or going to a cafe. Possibly you can go to Starbucks once your through security and get a good drink or go to your favorite joint.

I wish you all the best. Just take a deep breath and say "Traveling is fun" . You should be fortunate that your parents are taking you as there are families where either the parents have no money or the parents take trips on their own without the children.

Bring your MP3 player on the plane and you should be fine.

karenkay

did you read her post? she's not concerned about the trip, she's concerned about the virtual strip search before it.

to the op, hopefully it won't come to the choice of grope or naked pics and you can avoid it altogether. there is a list of where the machines are here on ft. good luck. if you do have to choose, i'm all about choosing the grope, in public, and complaining loudly if you're violated in any way. as mentioned before, a young attractive woman would get additional sympathy not accorded to a guy. ^

PTravel

Welcome to FlyerTalk, Pyridine.

May I suggest that you have a candid talk with your parents about this? Your concerns are absolutely legitimate and your parents should know about them. I think they would probably also want to know about the safety risk posed by ionizing radiation from the x-ray scanners. Show them these sites:

http://www.ratical.org/radiation/CNR...OfConcern.html

http://www.npr.org/assets/news/2010/05/17/concern.pdf

www.fedupflyers.org

There are ways to plan your family's trip so that the chance of being subjected to either the scanner or the enhanced pat down is minimized.

Personally, after reading your post I am even more outraged at TSA than I was before. That a teenage girl should have to worry about this is completely unacceptable. I suspect that, when your parents understand your concern, they will be as outraged as well and will protect you from this lunacy.

tusphotog

Yes. You do. Educate your parents and siblings. They might not opt out, but would be less surprised if you opt out. The TSA can't force you through the machine. If they try to, just be uncooperative. "I won't raise my arms." "I won't stand inside it." "I'm not moving until I can opt out and I'm going to delay all these many hundreds of sheep behind me" and so on. The TSA isn't going to stick a gun in your back and say "get in the box, pretty girl!"

But here's a tip from someone who practically lives in airports. Just relax. Worry about the destination, what you're going to do when you're there and so on. With a little simple observation, it's not hard to avoid these things. For example tonight at Las Vegas three lanes were open at the A/B/C checkpoint when I walked by: two with the regular WTMDs and one with the NoS running. Just go to the WTMD line. SJC: one NoS and 4 WTMDs.

You'll be fine. Go with the flow and BE OBSERVANT. I'm willing to bet that with an extra 30 seconds looking around, you can pick your line and not have an issue.

JBLUA320

Edit: Saw your post about not wanting to post the airport.. If you want to PM it (I'm not looking for someone to stalk *or* a girlfriend) I can shoot back whether or not there's a way to avoid the body scanners. Most large airports with multiple checkpoints still have ones without the body scanners. If you're at a small station with one checkpoint.. then you might have to go for the opt out groping :/.

MrAndy1369

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Be strong. As your airport does have the NoS, I bet they still have some lanes that do not offer NoS. Like others has posted, it would help us all if you disclosed your location so we can give you an idea of what to expect. However, I respect your desire not to disclose your location.

IF your airport does have NO lanes with WTMDs only, then be strong. Unfortunately, there's really no way you can avoid either being groped or having a screener see your naked outlined body. I really don't know what else to tell you... it's the reality at this point, and there's not much you can do to avoid it, other than not flying. Perhaps others can pipe in with tips that I didn't think of, but at this point, you really have no choice if your airport doesn't have any lanes that are WTMD only, then I strongly suggest you talk to your parents. If they won't understand/don't care about the situation, I guess either suck it up for now, or don't go at all, period.

It's really sad that we're at this point where either way, you're screwed. Fortunately, MANY people, even those who used to be "anything for security", are against the latest pat down procedures and NoS, myself included. It's popping up all over the news, so there's hope.

Sorry I don't have anything more positive to say. However, disclosing your location would really help, so we can give you specific directions to non-NoS lanes. Think about it.

Best of luck!

Palal

Welcome to FT! You should also write your congresspeople, the airline you're flying with and anyone else who may listen (regardless of what happens) to express your view on the issue.

JBLUA320

If you have some time, you should write a short blurb and send you to it your local newspaper. The fact that even 17 year old girls are getting annoyed by this should send a pretty strong message about just how ridiculous TSA + Friends have gotten..