Xena -- I am presuming at your young age (relative to mine) that you don't have teenagers. Cell phones are really helpful for parents, not just the kids.
I have a wonderfully mature and responsible HS senior for whom we provide a cell phone. He likes it AND it makes our lives much nicer.
"need" might just reside more with the parents than the youngster.
Just my opinion.
p.s. nobody won in this event.
I have no children, for which I am roundly castigated every time I express an opinion about parenting. (I've also never had an abortion, but so far no one's called me on that. Yet.)
I'm 36, and I remember back in the mists of time when there were no cell phones. We told our parents to pick us up at whenever we'd be done. They showed up and we went home.
Communication and coordination are not that difficult, and I fail to see why a cell phone is "needed." It might be convenient and make life easier, but those don't meet the definition of "needed."