Anyone catching a flight during the busy Thanksgiving holidays might be required to check his dignity at the security gate.

New screening procedures that took effect last month at dozens of airports around the country have taken security screening to a new level.

Some passengers are being subjected to invasive pat-downs by security agents. Some searches are so thorough that critics have equated them with sexual assault. Women’s breasts and buttocks can be firmly patted. So can the thighs and genital areas for all passengers.

Some passengers are rightfully balking at the pat-downs. But the alternative is less than appealing — a full-body scan that provides an image of one’s naked body to a screener.

There are legitimate questions about whether the naked images from the full-body scans will land on the Internet. The government has said the images will be destroyed, but that was not the case at a Florida courthouse that kept 35,000 images on a scanner.

The new airport security procedures are in response to an attempted attack last year by an al-Qaida operative who boarded a Detroit-bound plane with explosives stuffed in his underwear.

The head of Homeland Security says the procedures are needed to protect travelers. Polls show most Americans support the added security.

Everyone wants to be safe. But the new procedures must be carried out using common sense and better training of screening agents. A balanced approach to ensure airport safety without invading the public’s privacy and civil liberties is what’s needed.