A Kinder, Gentler TSA?

Caroline Morse Teel is the Managing Editor for SmarterTravel Media. Follow her on Instagram @TravelWithCaroline.

Caroline joined Boston-based SmarterTravel in 2011 after living in Ireland, London, and Manhattan. She's traveled to all seven continents, jumped out of planes, and bungeed off bridges in the pursuit of a good story. She loves exploring off-the-beaten path destinations, anything outdoorsy, and all things adventure.

Her stories have also appeared online at USA Today, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Yahoo, Boston.com, TripAdvisor, Buzzfeed, Jetsetter, Oyster, Airfarewatchdog, and others.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "Earplugs. A good pair has saved my sleep and sanity many times!"

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro.

Travel Motto: "Don't be boring."

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E-mail her at cteel@smartertravel.com.

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Ever wonder what kind of training TSA agents receive? NJ.com takes readers inside a training session, and what happens there may surprise you.

For example, a big focus is actually given in training future agents in the art of communication. TSA workers should strive to not only be good listeners, but good speakers, as well—meaning they should use a “modulated speaking voice, moderately paced so that it’s not so fast that it’s unintelligible or uncaring, or not so slow that it sounds condescending.”

Why is there so much emphasis on calm communication? It’s actually a safety issue, designed to keep the checkpoints chaos free, so that agents are better able to focus on screening. As a lead TSA screening instructor, Jim Gruter, said, “If we don’t have the chaos at the checkpoint, then the officers who are working there can see if there is a threat.”

Do you see examples of this kinder and gentler training at TSA checkpoints? Tell us your experience in the comments.

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