The quick arrest of suspects in the Dec. 15 early morning robbery at the A-Plus store on West Jefferson Street should make others with like ideas think twice about committing a similar crime. As an article in the Dec. 17 Butler Eagle reported, the two suspects hardly had enough time to smoke the five packs of cigarettes they took from the store before they were apprehended.

A crime was committed and arrests were made, but some questions remain.

The biggest one is why the 14-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy who are the suspects in this case were out on the streets at 1:40 a.m. on a weeknight. That’s the time they entered the store and confronted the store attendant, demanding money.

Specifically, where were their parents and what were those parents doing that kept them from knowing that the boys were not at their homes?

Regardless of the circumstances, the parents of the two boys must share some of the responsibility. If proper parental controls over the youths were in place, the Dec. 15 robbery would not have occurred.

This incident should make other parents pause and reflect on the rules that govern their homes — indeed, on how much freedom they allow their children.

It’s to be presumed that the two youths’ arrests have cast a pall over the holidays for their families. At the same time, the robbery no doubt will have a lasting effect on the store clerk, who obviously feared for his life when he was pushed into one of the store’s back rooms and ordered to get down on the floor.

Although facing juvenile court cases, the two alleged robbers should consider themselves lucky. They would have faced much more serious charges if the store clerk, while experiencing the traumatic incident, had suffered a serious medical emergency.

Even without such a tragic result, it may be pondered how the boys’ arrests will affect their later lives when they are seeking jobs or other ways of bettering themselves. For now, it can be acknowledged that their lives will be changed.

The robbery was an amateurish act of stupidity — as are many other crimes. But, nonetheless, the Dec. 15 crime showcased the ability of the police to act quickly and effectively, when they have leads and evidence with which to work.

This crime should not have occurred; with more active parental involvement and authority in their homes, it likely wouldn’t have occurred.

The parents of these boys, as well as other parents who create an atmosphere of lax supervision or who maintain weak rules, should use this crime as an incentive to rethink how their homes operate and what is expected from the children in the home.

If they do, perhaps evolving problems will be detected and confronted before anything really bad occurs.

Other families should take steps now to avoid the kind of heartache that the accused A-Plus robbers’ families are feeling — if they really care.