The Ernest Becker Foundation

Her findings are complex because the effects of TV violence are different on different aged children. In general she found the impact to be not only long term but more indelible than prevailing common-sense assumptions would hold to be true. She found that even thirty second promotional images could elicit a lasting sense of recurring panic in the memories of children.

Dr. Cantor reported that the TV industry is poised to defeat the blocking of violent programming with the argument that what is offered can be considered to be entertainment. She did not find the industry to be interested or moved by scientific studies like her own. Thus, an important part of her review on September 24, 1998 included a strong recommendation that interested private citizens become active in communicating about this important threat to the well-being of children.

While the EBF frequently sponsors speakers who reflect on the theme of the denial of death, Dr. Cantor's reflection could be considered to be about television, a medium that denies protection of the well-being in the living.