So, Ellen, you’re explaining to your grandfather what you’re doing your research on. What would you tell him?
I study how watching television and using other media and technology like cell phones and internet, movies and books impact children’s health and their development. What we like to study is children of different ages toddlers versus middle schoolers versus adolescents and make sense of their differences. We know children in different ages have different skill sets.
What would be a recommendation you have for parents regarding media use?
My advice is to know your child and observe what they are using. Then make a judgment of whether you think that content is appropriate for their age and for their particular sets of interest. My view is that media are not inherently bad it depends on what children are attending to. The context of use is always important!
Great, to the weird part. Ellen if you could have any superpower what would that be?
The power to see into people’s thoughts. To read their minds! That would help a lot to see what are things coming from. Seeing people’s thoughts, reading minds is great, nobody would know that I’m doing it. it’s not an observable superpower so you could be super without anyone realizing. I think I prefer that to flying; that’s more interesting.
I get the dilemma between flying and other superpowers a lot when people are thinking about this question!
Hehe yeah, well I travel a lot so I fly.
What about Teleporting?
Oh teleporting would be great, very Star Treky.
Are you a Star Trek fan?
Oh, I’m a Star Trek fan.
Which Star Trek is our favorite?
That’s hard. I love the original, I liked all the films, including the new ones They’re starting the new Star Treks and I can’t wait for that one. I love Scifi but I also love Police procedurals. CIS, CISLA. I watch NCIS in reruns! I live television!!
If you could play in any band, whatever instrument what band would you play in?
E Street Band with Springsteen! I want to be a singer and if I had to play an instrument I’d obviously play the base.
Do you play any instruments?
I played the violin when I was in junior high but more than that I was a dancer, I did modern dance.
If you could have lunch with a celebrity who would you choose?
I love Meryl Streep. She just seems like an intelligent wonderful actress who has raised seemingly very interesting kids and seems to be very supportive of others. Oh and Michelle and Barack Obama as a couple.
What would you ask Meryl?
I would like to hear her talk about the impact of contemporary art on our culture and whether art can be an antidote to the political divisions we have right now.
Which fictional world would you want to live in?
My first thought, because I like Sherlock, is to go back to the 19 century, Baker street. I think that would be fun. But being a woman those days would be hard unless you’re …” the” woman…. I love Sherlock and I read all the spinoffs.
Did you do anything when you were a student, that when you look back, you’re like Oh God I wish I would have done this differently? What advice would you have for your young self?
Be careful who you get involved with particularly when you’re young. Don’t get involved with much older men! I was involved with men more than twice my age. In retrospect that was not a good thing, I wish I would have dated men my age. My husband is close to my age, 4 years older. You know when you’re young those older men look so sophisticated!
To learn more about Ellen’s work, click here.
I asked Ellen what she likes the most in her office? “My children did that when they were 5 and 9 they took a pottery class. The 5-year-old, Steven did the one at the bottom and David did the other two.
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