Not just to have a phone, but to have the "right", "newest" and "best" one. I'm out of it because I have an Mp3 player rather than an Ipod and a basic cell phone instead of an Ipad/Iphone/Blackberry. I got my phone at 16, the year after I got a job.
It's a pity some young lady felt the need to objectify herself to her peers. But in a way, its what we're asking for through our sex-charged culture and the amount of freedom and priviledge children are given. It's like handing them great power and "hoping" they'll be responsible, or worse, assuming they won't and that there is really nothing that can be done about it.