To the Editor:

“Mom and Dad Are Cleared, but Junior’s Another Story” (“On the Road” column, Sept. 9), about children being delayed for hours from flying because they have names similar to ones on the federal terrorist watch list, was frightening to me.

These children and their parents are effectively second-class citizens, requiring special clearance each time they fly.

The lists are grossly flawed, and the procedures to correct them completely inadequate. Since some of the procedures that could prevent such travesties are as simple as listing the ages of actual persons on the federal watch list, who are presumably almost all adults or at least teenagers, it seems that our government does not really care.

This could get much worse. Within a few years, we are likely to have some sort of national identification system, and the government will be able to check the names of everyone boarding a train or bus; will we then have no-ride rules also?