Simon Cowell’s long-term partner Lauren Silverman doesn’t allow her 12-year-old son Eric to have devices in his bedroom when he has friends over. She admits the rules make her “unpopular.”
“Each household has different boundaries when it comes to technology and this is something that has made a huge difference in our household,” Silverman, 48, wrote via social media on Friday.
“When friends come over or have sleepovers, we ask them to keep their phones away. Not because we’re totally anti-technology, but because we’ve seen what happens when kids are given space to just be kids.”
Silverman wrote that she believed the move would bring “laughter, conversation, better sleep, and true connection” to her son and his friends.
In a slideshow, Silverman shared a snapshot of her son with two friends and wrote above the photo that the move “could make her the least popular mother” in her son’s “friend group.”
But in a subsequent slide, she explained that it was about “kids being kids” without the distractions of smartphones, and reflected on what would happen if that became the “new normal.”
Silverman asserted that “household culture will change,” and imagined a world in which “playdates mean again” activities such as riding bikes, swimming, playing soccer, baking bread, exploring the outdoors, and simply “hanging out and talking.”
The mother of two wrote that giving up mobile phones can lead to “amazing” changes in how children “talk,” “create” and “connect.”
“And somehow time feels like it’s slowing down,” she continued. “No one is sitting alone scrolling,” she added, “They’re busy making memories.”
Silverman also said she respects that “every family has different rules” and that “the goal is connection, not control.”
“This is a question of balance,” she wrote, recognizing that devices will continue to be used for a variety of purposes, but urging parents to “help us make this the new normal.”
Parents in the comment thread had mixed reactions, with one saying: “Great! Maybe it’s okay to put the phone aside when adults don’t need to set an example?”
Another wrote: “Great post 🔥 – the more we parents can say this to each other and our kids, the more we can change the culture of needing a phone,” while a third chimed in with concern: “Kids need to be available!” — despite Silverman’s assertion that “kids always have access to their phones if they need to contact home.”
Silverman and the American Idol icon began dating in 2013 and welcomed Eric in 2014. They later got engaged, and Cowell popped the question in December 2021.
Silverman also has a son, Adam Silverman, with ex-husband Andrew Silverman.
