So I'm sure we have all heard of some of the insane encounters with TSA agents while traveling through busy airports, especially on the holidays. For instance, the incident where an 8 year old boy was strip searched in Salt Lake City, a breast cancer survivor who was forced to remove her prosthetic breast, a bladder cancer survivor who had his urostomy bag seal broken which caused him to become soaked in urine, a 3 year old child who had her teddy bear taken away and then was subjected to a pat down etc... Of course though, the most controversial of all, the full body scans... The TSA has been under heavy fire as of lately, but I think the real question is whether or not it is necessary.
One could argue that full body scans are necessary, even for young children. You could argue that terrorists might try and use little children to sneak things on to a plane, and if you don't want to be subjected to invasive body scans and pat downs, then drive or take a bus. On the other hand, you could also argue that it is getting out of control and isn't necessary. You could say that the terrorists have already won... I mean the objective for a terrorist is to strike fear into people's minds, and you could definitely argue that they have succeeded. You could argue that if you have nothing to hide, then you shouldn't be worried or concerned right? How about putting a camera in your bedroom at home (to make sure you aren't plotting something illegal of course), I mean if you have nothing to hide, why would you object?
To be honest, I think they have gone too far. I know it's for our own "protection" and all, but where do you draw the line? What if another 9/11 occurs, could you imagine how tight the security would be then? Perhaps full body cavity searches on everyone, no matter their age. Once you give the government certain powers, it's really hard to take them back again. I think it's time people stood up and did something about it. Everyone has the right to feel safe I agree, but at what cost? How many freedoms must we give up to feel safe? There's nothing wrong with trying to keep passengers safe while traveling, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I think it's really something that should be thought about, before it's too late.
I do think that the pat downs are beyond... dumb. After seeing people get man handled on the news, it makes the idea of flying really unfavorable. The full body scans seem to be okay though. They don't see you naked and honestly, I would pick that over getting felt up by some TSA dude any day. But I seriously think that the pat downs are like some kind of invasion of privacy. It's almost like legal sexual harassment. They get to feel you up, and you literally can not say anything to stop it, or else you look like you're hiding something. I can not picture my dad going through any of this. I see him causing a scene. And I'm pretty sure that I'd cause a scene too. Because like you said, where's the line?
ReplyDeleteThis post has several good points. I believe the TSA is going too far by strip searching small children and patting them down. Full body scans have been implemented also, but to be honest I would rather have my privacy invaded by a full body scan than having some stranger put their hands on my body. Its hard to say whether the full body scans are necessary but the TSA have already performed enough unnecessary procedures to cause humiliation for travelers.
ReplyDeleteI like Chris's comment saying how hard it is to get certain powers back once they are granted to the government, I agree strongly with this. If you give them the authority to see whats under your clothes then eventually they could try to gain the authority to monitor whats in your home, just like they would monitor your phone calls to make sure you aren't a terrorist. I think my colleague makes a good point when he says that the terrorists have succeeded because the TSA is so terrified of airports being attacked that they are willing to take away our rights. I agree, the TSA has gone too far.