Out of so many tragedies involving children come stories of unfathomable heroism and inspiration, and teen Madison Leigh Wallace's devastating drowning is no exception.

The 16-year-old's body was found Friday in an icy river in South Dakota's Falls Park, after she'd jumped in Thursday night to save her 6-year-old brother Garrett. Police think Garrett either slipped on rocks and fell in or was covered in the bubbling water's rising foam, which reached 10 feet high. The little boy lived because Madison -- and another man passing by who also leaped in to help -- saved him.

As wracked by grief and shock as Madison and Garrett's parents must be, they also are probably overcome with love -- and yes, pride -- that their daughter died doing something so noble for their son. Wouldn't you be?

The other day I noticed a sign at a gas station forbidding "minors" from pumping gas. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it had something to do with liability, but I still rolled my eyes. Are we raising a generation of kids so inept that a teenager can't handle pumping some gas?

Well, actually, yes. I've been hearing from parents, employers, waitresses, and myriad other adults lately that they're fed up with the stunted development they've noted in a number of today's teens. And parents, let me tell you, it's not just the kids they're mad at it ... it's the parents who are raising these immature teenagers!

So parents, here it is, on behalf of your kids, I've got a list of the life skills they really should know by the time they're teenagers. Time to get started on your kids!

The older I get, and the older my kids grow right before my eyes, I realize that their teen years are just around the corner. This fact panics me -- greatly, immensely, and stupendously. At one time, when someone blurted out, “Oh -- you think you have your hands full NOW, you just wait,” then followed it with a knowing, almost evil “I know something as a parent of a TEENAGER that you don't know” kind of laugh, I'd run, almost literally.

My nine-year-old tween daughter recently declared that she had nothing to wear. Since I’m usually behind in the laundry department, I figured she might be right. Upon inspection of her closet, however, I found several outfits hanging up, washed and ready to be worn.

“They’re Gymboree,” she told me with the same disgusted, I’m-too-old-for-that tone she might have used if I handed her a Dora coloring book to occupy herself. So Gymboree is apparently out, and Justice in is. It’s not going to be long before she’s going to be shopping for more grown-up undergarments either -- and into the debate about Victoria’s Secret for tweens we go.

In a tragic game of tug-o-war at a Los Angeles County high school on Monday, two teens lost several fingers each when the rope snapped. An 18-year-old girl lost four fingers from her right hand and her left thumb, and her male classmate, also 18, lost four fingers from his right hand.

The students were competing in South El Monte High School’s Spirit Week during the lunch hour. The injuries appear to have happened because the students wrapped the rope around their hands for more traction rather than just gripping it. They were taken to a nearby trauma center to try to reattach their fingers, but information isn't known yet as to whether they were successful.

You have to be living under a rock to miss all the slew of parents publicly humiliating their teens in order to punish them for their bad behavior.

And while my own parents had creative methods for punishing us as kids that were very effective, they were done in the privacy of our own home, and not for entire world to see.

Lately, I believe this public shaming trend is more about the parent getting attention rather than actually disciplining their child, and quite frankly, it disgusts me.

I recently came across an op-ed by writer Mark Bittman in The New York Times complaining about all the stars selling soda these days. There do seem to be an over-abundance of A-listers selling the sugary drinks. The latest? Beyonce, of course. Pepsi is pulling out $50 million from its seriously deep pockets for an ad campaign featuring the star. Well, the author likened Bey's new soda ad to starring in a spot for semiautomatic rifles. In his mind, both are dangerous to our youth. I don't think I am alone when I say that assessment is way off-base. It's not even a fair comparison. More importantly, it's not the star's job to keep our kids healthy -- it's ours and ours alone.

My family was one of the first to own a computer. We only owned one because my dad is a gadget freak, not because my parents are cutting edge -- my mother STILL doesn't understand how call waiting works.

But I'd sit there in my footie pajamas while my dad inserted these gigantic floppy discs into the large machine so that I could do things like "learn to tell time" by reading a gigantic green clock. Not quite on the level of Angry Birds, but I digress.

My son is 11 and a half (the half being of utmost importance), and he's asking for a cellphone, which freaks me out. I didn't have one until I was 21, and even then, the thing took up half my purse.

Ah, how the times have changed!