More than half of all 12-year-olds have cell phones

The next time your 12-year-old wails that “everybody else is getting a cell phone,“ you might have to reluctantly agree.

For the first time, more than half of U.S. 12-year-olds have a cell phone of their very own, and their ranks are growing like lines at a Hannah Montana concert.

Way back in 2004, just 18 percent of 12-year-olds had their own cell phone. Now 51 percent have a cell phone, and with each year they age, the likelihood that kids are, like, totally cellular, goes up, according to new research by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

By the tender age of 14, a full 72 percent have a cell phone, and by age 16, the percentage reaches 85 percent – nearly on par with the all-grown-up population.

And don’t think the size of the household budget is much of an argument against getting a phone, try as you might. The demographics of young kids with phones are almost indistinguishable from those without phones. There’s less than a 15-percent differential now between households earning $30,000 per year and those earning more than $75,000.

That’s thanks in part to relentless marketing among cell phone and cellular service companies that tout kid-focused phones and family plan packages.

Even before kids can make real calls, there are phones to train on.

LeapFrog now sells a “Text and Learn” toy phone for about $21, geared for 3-to-6 year olds. Though it doesn’t make calls, it looks just like a smart phone, with full QWERTY keyboard and a marketing program aimed at parents who lost their PDAs due to kid-related accidents.

Kids can exchange make-believe text messages with their virtual puppy pal “Scout,“ check Scout’s planner to see what his week entails and play with a pretend Web browser.

For kids a bit older, there’s the (real cell phone) LG “Rumor” from cell phone service company Kajeet, which sells back-to-school service bundles, easier parental controls, and a “Where are you” feature that locates a kid’s phone by GPS.

There’s also the $60 “Peek” phone-like device that handles just E-mail and text messages – sold at Target, Amazon and other stores. Service costs about $15 per month. (Some online deals sell a Peek for $14.95 apiece.)

And for kids a bit older, there is always the BlackBerry and iPhone, because “Come on, everyone is getting them.“

How can parents put some limits on what kids do with phones? Here’s what some carriers are offering:

•: AT&T – Offers its “Smart Limits” program that lets parents use a special Web site to establish times of day the device can be used for Web browsing, messaging and outbound calls; limit download purchases; block or allow calls or texts to and from certain numbers, etc. It costs $4.99 a month per line. Parents can also turn off the Media Net service to limit certain kinds of downloads, content or purchases.

•: Verizon – Sells certain parental control services for $4.99 per month, and a “Chaperone” locator service for $9.99 that also sends alerts when kids enter or leave certain pre-set zones.

•: Sprint – Offers a wide variety of free parental controls to restrict incoming/outgoing calls to a limited list of numbers. Controls can also block ringtone downloads, turn off the phone’s camera, Web browsing or restrict surfing and text messaging to approved sites and numbers. Picture mail can also be blocked for free. Sprint sells a “Family Locator” service to find phones for $5 per month.