Screaming toddler's airport pat-down caught on camera; draws anger

TAMPA - A YouTube video (embedded below) showing a toddler screaming her way through an airport security screening has been viewed more than 49,000 times and is adding to the ongoing debate about airport pat-downs and security procedures.

The cell phone video, taken by a Houston television reporter, shows his 3-year-old daughter crying and screaming as an official from the Transportation Security Administration tries to conduct a pat-down at the airport in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"Stop touching me!" the 3-year-old is heard screaming in the video. She can be seen crying and wriggling around as her mother tries to hold her still.

LINK: Watch the video on YouTube

The video was aired on the reporter's station, CW 39 News. The reporter, Steve Simon, said he knows there has to be some sacrifice and balance when it comes to airport security, but on that trip, the balance "just didn't feel right."

Simon said the metal detector twice went off when the girl walked through, which means the person has to be hand searched. His daughter "wasn't in the mood" for a handheld metal detector screening, he said, and continued to cry and scream as the TSA official patted her down.

The video has prompted comments from many complaining that a pat-down of a child is uncalled for and that the TSA was going too far. The YouTube posting is linked to more than 30 pages of comments from people on both sides of the aisle.

"She is at the age where children are shy of strangers. What the TSA agent was doing was scary to her," one person wrote.

Another commenter said it was still an invasion of privacy even though the rules were being followed. Several people even went as far as to refer to the patdown as "molestation" of the child.

Other posters saw no problem with a child being patted down, calling it simply a security matter, despite this kid's tantrum.

"If they ever do find a bomb on someone this way, everyone forgets about all the groping and cheers," one person pointed out.

In his report, Simon spoke to a regional security director of the TSA about having children screened. The director told him that perhaps more "sensitivity training" for the agents in dealing with children may be necessary.

Airport full-body scanners and the new pat-downs that have been dubbed "more invasive" by passengers and airline personnel have generated numerous complaints across the country. The head of the TSA testified on Capitol Hill that the pat-downs are not going away, but he did say that children under 12 are exempt from such searches.