Let's please not go down the "think of the children!" route. It's been abused quite enough already (albeit to rob us of our privacy and privileges).

No, you missed a good point. Everyone in the US who needs a phone, has a phone (gross generalization, but accurate enough). Therefor, the only people getting new phones are children who newly have a need for a phone.

This is isn't "think of the children" with buckyballs, this is "think of the children" with phone numbers potentially under questionable surveillance for a previous owners activities. A perfectly reasonable thing to think about, especially in the context you presented in parens. Obviously, this shouldn't be happening for anyone, but children are more likely to feel the effects.

Um... and new employees, and immigrants, and long term tourists, and people wanting to change their number...

Short term tourists too. Not everyone has EU style or T-Mobile ONE style roaming.