The Department of Homeland Security has stated that they will no longer pat down children or make them remove their shoes at the airport. Although a quick memo could make this new policy take effect immediately, it will, instead, be rolled out over the next few months.

Napolitano said there may be some exceptions. Terrorists have plotted to use children as suicide bombers, and some children still may be required to remove their shoes to keep security random.

“There will always be some unpredictability built into the system, and there will always be random checks even for groups that we are looking at differently, such as children,” she said.

So, you child will no longer have to remove their shoes, except when they are, in which case, they have to remove their shoes.

Instead of patting down a young child, screeners will soon be told to send children through metal detectors or the walk-through imaging machines multiple times to capture a clear picture and use more explosive trace detection tools such as hand swabs, according to a homeland security official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the measures.

Now, instead of being subjected to a pat down, children will be sent through backscatter machines repeatedly, exposing them to ionizing radiation that damages cells.

Considering the fact that children were supposed to be already exempt from these procedures, no one is taking Napolitano at her word just yet.

This does nothing to settle the problem of airport security or the security theater that goes with it. Just in this one article, we are told that children are not subjected to the pat downs, or shoe removal except when they are. So, if children are now supposed to be exempt, they why aren’t adults? If Janet Napolitano can say that sometimes children can be terrorists, but they are exempt from pat downs, then why doesn’t the same rule apply to everyone else? Grope everyone or no one. That’s how it should be. There should be exceptions to the rules or security breaks down.