This App Rewards Students With Food for Not Checking Their Phones in Class

The way to a teenager’s brain is through their stomach. Students on two campuses can now earn discounts at local shops and eateries by building points on an app that measures whether they check their phones during class.

The app, Pocket Points, was developed by a student at California State University, Chico, and has now been implemented on the Penn State campus as well, according to the Penn State news site Onward State.

When students arrive at their lectures, they open the app (which can tell when it’s in a campus classroom) then lock their phone. The app then measures how long they go before checking their phone again. The longer it stays locked, the more points they get, and the more hoagies/cheesesteaks/pizzas they get to redeem at participating locations. Because if highly-trained Ph.D.’s can’t get kids to focus, surely the promise of hot cheese can.

If only they could make this work for grown-ups at dinner parties.

[Onward State]