effect on language – this is a good one – come up with slang that has come from tv shows and become popular (i.e. , talk about how allowing certain curse words has made them more mainstream, how tv spreads things faster than they would if there wasn't tv, maybe even throw in the short lived wave about ebonics and how it was covered on the news. You could also talk about children's tv and how things have changed – children are learning spanish from Dora and songs from tv – most kids don't even know nusery rhymes any more. You can add other forms of mass media into this by saying it has also affected written language – there are a few websites online that talk about how many typos there are nowdays in the newspaper/magazines, etc. and how computers and IMing has taught kids wrong spellings/shortcut spellings, not to capitalize, use punctuation wrong, and not even construct full sentences (I'm guilty of it too!)

effect on trends – without TLC and HGTV would there be such an interest in home improvement? Without Dancing with the Stars would Ballroom still be a lost art? Without all those commercials and magazine ads would kids still want all the toys/video games/phones, etc?

We need to evaluate the trends of today. Does the influence in our family’s lives build stronger healthier families? Or do the TV, Radio, Magazines, Internet, and Games tear down what we are trying to establish, a good moral home place, family values that are taught and learned at home. Is what we see, what we are about to become? How much does what we see stay with us?
Lets think about it!