[washadjeffmad]

It's completely feasible. I've been told by a lot of younger people that their parents gave them a "practice phone" (iPod Touch was a popular choice) as a kid, and if they took care of it and hadn't done anything with it they shouldn't have by certain age, they were allowed a smartphone.

I'm not sure what the modern equivalent is, and there are certainly plenty of other ways to gauge responsibility and honesty, but there are phones that can't be used for much except calling and texting specific people.

In general, if someone is old enough to seek something out, banning them from it isn't going to work, anyway. I don't support the iPad/YouTube model of parenting, but I also don't think kids who grow up with things are as/more susceptible to them because of when they were introduced.