Created: 11/10/2008 10:35:05 PM 
ST. MARYS, GA -- The challenge to the Lassiter family was simple: no computer, iPod, mobile phone, TV or video games for 24 hours. And Jay Lassiter and his two kids, 12-year-old Anna and 16-year-old Johnathan accepted that challenge. The Lassiters are a typical family living in a wired world. Their home is connected with the latest gadgets and technology and the St. Marys family can't imagine life without them. "Every day after school, the first thing I do is go to the computer," says Johnathan. Johnathan has a laptop for MySpace and online poker, an iPod, a mobile phone and he uses a fifty inch flatscreen for Xbox, playing online against people from all over the world. Anna also plays Xbox with her brother, usually Rock Band. She also has a laptop, an Ipod, and she likes to text on her mobile.
"We enjoy technology, we enjoy gadgets and learning new things," said Jay. "We wired the whole house for anything you could imagine."
They are like so many families, but this family agreed to pull the plug for 24 hours.
"It's depressing almost, what I do is electronics, games, computer, if I don't have that, what else is there to do?" asks Johnathan.
To make sure no one cheated, all the gadgets went in a basket and were safely stored at grandma's house down the street.
On night one the family did chores, walked the dog and worked on homework and with not much else to do, Johnathan gave up and went to bed early.
Day two, the kids were off to school where they're not allowed to have mobile phones or games. But it got a lot harder for Jay when he had to go to work.He owns his own home alarm company and because he can no longer check on things by phone he had to go out to each installation job in person.
"You drive to them, old school, you drive to them...normally right now if I'm working the phones are with me, my computer's on, that phone's going, I've got another phone, one of them ringing in my pocket," said Jay.
But today he was filling out forms by hand and using the land line.
But even then he didn't have phone numbers because they're stored in his mobile.
"Your brain can store so many numbers but not everything, the numbers I call every day I know off the top of my head but the ones I call once a month, once every two months, didn't have them," said Jay.
His co-workers thought without his two phones Jay might not even show up for work.
"I didn't know know until today that he had a right ear," says one co-worker.
After school, the family spent time playing pool and then checkers and made dinner, all uninterrupted and unusually relaxed.
"It's so quiet, no drums blaring in the background, no Xbox going, no TV," said Jay.
But it has not been easy for Jay; he's missed 12 new voicemails on just one of his two phones.
Anna missed 30 texts.
And when the challenge came to an end, what did the Lassiters learn from a 24-hour disconnect?
"How valuable and how much we appreciate communication, be able to reach out and call whoever and find out where one of the kids are, what's going on with them. After school activities, functions, homework dinner, whatever," said Jay.
"I hung out with my little sister a little bit, a little more than usual, we got along," said Johnathan.
They say they now know they could do it, but wouldn't want to ever again.
"You're always used to like your everyday habits, like go on the computer, watch TV, play on your cell phone, but when you don't have it, you think it will be easy but it's really not that easy," said Anna.
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