Interesting story

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/20124542/detail.html

This is a story I saw on the news tonight and had to look it up. Three Baltimore boys ages 7,8, and 11 were arrested for stealing from their neighbor. They were handcuffed, taken in a paddy wagon to the juvenile detention center and held for about 2 hours.
Part of me thinks this is a pretty good idea b/c they will hopefully learn early that their are consequences for their actions. But another part of me thinks they are too young to be arrested. However the question arises if they had not been caught by police would they have continued down this path? One of the children is quotes as saying he and his friends saw his neighbors bikes, scooter, and go-kart and decided to take them. Why did they think it was a good idea to take something that wasn't theirs? It boggles my mind. I saw a clip of one of the moms talking and she didn't seem to get that her son did wrong and should be punished.
I am trying to think about what I would do if the monster was to get into trouble for stealing and I know I would be embarrassed but I think I would support the cops b/c they were following the rules and my child was not. I am still at odds with how I feel but it is interesting...