2 kids rob store using water gun

It's bad enough that you get robbers using a plethora of legally available weapons stealing from banks and stores, but it gets real bad when kids (and that too very young kids) steal from a store using a plastic gun. One wonders about the kind of education that these kids are getting, maybe they are watching the wrong stuff on TV. Refer this story:
Two kids, aged 11 and 14, using a water gun concealed in black tape stole cash from a discount store. They walked into the store, and demanded cash while showing the weapon, eventually fighting with the clerk and stealing the money.
They were arrested by police soon after, but it must be equally hard for the policemen, who would have seen hardened criminals, to witness such young kids displaying such behaviour. The kids will be charged with stealing using a weapon.