The following story was written by a Watts Community Youth Journalist as a part of the EveryDay Heroes Leadership Camp project that focused on community media.

5 B Deriona Nicholson = News Story =  Delfino Edits 

A cell phone sweep that will lead to an outright ban took place in Washington Preparatory High school on Monday, August 19.

The local order comes ahead of an official request from California Governor Gavin Newsome to ban students from using any cell phones during day time at public schools. 

The ban was approved by the Los Angeles Unified School District on June 18.

The calls for cell phone free zones in class rooms come from many reasons including distractions, anxiety and student-to-student cyberbullying helped in part by the use of cellulars

While LA unified approved the order this summer the ban will not take full effect until January 2025. Local districts, however, are free to create their own due dates.

Goals for the ban include talks of enforcing the no phone rule during lunch and other breaks.

Soon students of Watts as well as across LA Unified will have to leave their phones at home.