Airport Screeners to Avoid Patting Down Children

WASHINGTON — The government's airport security chief says his agency has made changes to pat-downs for young children and more changes are coming.

Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole tells a Senate committee that airport screeners are now told to make repeated attempts to screen young children without using invasive pat-downs.

Earlier this year, a 6-year-old girl was given a pat-down because she moved during the electronic screening, causing a blurry image. There was public outrage that such a young child, who seemed to pose no terrorist threat, would have to go through what many consider an invasive search.

Pistole has said the agency is working on a modified pat-down for kids. He says terrorists outside the U.S. have used children as young as 10 as suicide bombers.