Washington ( CNN ) -- Responding to the uproar over physical searches of children , the Transportation Security Administration is rolling out new procedures that should reduce , although not eliminate , the number of times children are patted down at airport checkpoints . Under the new procedures , children age 12 and younger will be allowed to keep their shoes on , the TSA said . If a metal detector or full-body image detects a suspicious object , the children will be allowed multiple passes through the machines in an effort to identify the anomaly . Finally , airport screeners will have the option of swabbing the children 's hands to check for explosive residue as an alternative to patting down the children . Pat downs will be used only if concerns persist . Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday told a Senate committee the TSA will roll out the new procedures in the coming weeks and months . `` It does require additional training of all of the thousands of TSA officers and that 's under way , '' she said . In the spring , the TSA modified the actual pat down procedures , refining the parts of the body officers touch , amid widespread criticism that the pat downs were too intrusive . Since then , the TSA has been testing a variety of protocols to see if it could address public concerns without jeopardizing security . The pilot program , which has been going on since August at six airports , has shown the TSA could reduce the number of times it has had to pat down children , a TSA official said . The six airports are Boston Logan International , Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International , Miami International , Orlando International , Houston Intercontinental and Denver International . The furor over screening of children erupted in spring after a video posted on YouTube showed a 6-year-old girl being searched at New Orleans airport on April 5 . The girl protests the search at first , although she complies quietly while it is under way . TSA chief John Pistole said at a Capitol Hill hearing in spring that a female security screener performed the pat down on the girl because the child had moved while passing through the imaging machine . That prevented the device from getting a clear reading . Pistole suggested then that a pat down of a child is not entirely unjustified . `` Unfortunately we know that terrorists around the world have used children as suicide bombers , '' Pistole said .
TSA responded to criticism of pat downs for children with new weapons . Children will be allowed several passes through gates . Options also include clean surfaces for explosive residue . Official says it will take time to train all agents to implement procedures .