Seems like you're the one confused. A lot of parents don't want to buy their kids cell phones because of social media, dont understand technology enough to monitor them, think their kid is too young for a cell phone, or just flat out cant afford the monthly payment with inflation and all. You also must live under a rock and not know of the challenges that kids are trying and dieing from on social media.
I plan on eventually putting the repeater up myself. I don't get what is so hard to comprehend with this. There's a reason I started a group on my FB.
GMRS isn't limited to 2 watts (in repeater channels) and can have better antennas, making them better for range. The Baofeng UV-5G is about 4 watts with an antenna better than the limited FRS ht's, pretty much double the range.