Number two main responsibility of any parent is to reduce the stress of children

After hearing this story and listening to the excerpt from Good Morning America, I became quite annoyed at the parents of this child and how they portrayed this incident as a traumatic experience from which their child may never recover.

The title of the piece was TSA Frisks 6-Year-Old: Parents Speak Out and it was a piece where the parents of this child, Dr. Todd and Selena Drexel, were interviewed and allowed to tell their side of the story.  Todd mentioned that his daughter was traumatized by the pat down and since she had been told never to let anyone touch her in certain places cried because it happened and the child did not know what she had done to deserve such treatment.  What was not discussed was why this child had not been warned before traveling that this may happen and how to feel about it if it does.  Preparing your child for what might happen is just as important as protecting your child from things that may happen.  Selena mentioned that now she is not sure of what she needs to do to help her child deal with the fact of being touched in that manner and how ill-equipped she was to prepare her child or protect her from this happening in any other situation.  As a parent, I think that it’s pretty clear.  Explain to your child what may or may not happen in situation before you get involved in them and while you are at it explain how they could feel and deal with them.  It’s especially important to tell them how each situation is different so that they will know how to deal with each one individually.

While the TSA may wish to re-think their procedures on screening children, it must be made abundantly clear that if the word is leaked that children are being allowed to board planes, trains and public carrier conveyances without being checked, those who wish to create hate and discontent in this nation will exploit it.  This should be extremely clear by the Detroit case where this guy had explosives in his underwear.  Another item which seems to be missing in the debate is child preparation.  No parent should assume that children will know what to do or how to act in every situation and it is imperative on our parts to prepare them for those things that they will and may never face.  All the children should have been warned, educated and aware of the possibility of being patted down or scanned.

By preparing your child, you reduce the anxiety and stress level of that child and make air, bus, or train travel a little more enjoyable than this 6 year old may have experienced.  I understand the reasoning of Selena using the idea that now what will happen if the 6 year old is approached but what is again missed is that she was not only patted down in public but also in the presence of her siblings and her mother, this will not be the case in the situation implied by Selena or Todd.