After the U.S. government raised the terror alert to high this weekend, most people mocked the somewhat silly color-coded scale. While this clearly is not the intended response, and the system is far from ideal, it is a useful way for the government to communicate with the public and increase awareness.

Much of the cynicism stems from lack of real explanation for the increased alert beyond claims of more terrorist ‘chatter’ and notice of the annual Hajj period of pilgrimages to Mecca. However, giving more information without being absolutely certain would only create unnecessary panic if the events failed to materialize. Furthermore, the government must protect its informants, and terrorist networks are notoriously hard to penetrate.

After the attacks of Sept. 11, many people criticized the government for not warning the public about possible threats, and the government has been burned several times since then for either warning of events that failed to materialize or not warning of events that did. Assembling all the information on terrorist threats onto a simple color-coded scale seems ridiculous, but it does give the public a general idea of current situations.

While officials stress that Americans should not alter their daily routines based on what color and number they select to correspond with threats, they do urge the public to remain alert and report suspicious activity. This is exactly how most Americans respond. Even jokes about the system prove it is not causing unneeded panic but is making people think about the possibility of terrorism. The public should be alert, and the system encourages common sense and awareness.

The government needs more complex, detailed ways to inform officials, and those certainly exist to make sure the government is doing all it can to prevent terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the general populace cannot help nearly as much to directly thwart attacks, but people do want some warning and status updates. While connecting terrorist threats to one of the five colors and numbers on the terror alert will not work perfectly, the system does accomplish the government’s objective to maintain awareness and share some information.