National Honors Society has adopted the app Pocket Points, a free app located in the App store on all devices. The meaning behind this is to get kids to stop using their phones as much during school, at home, and even while driving.  

Pocket Points works by once the student opens the app, they start to get more points. The longer their phones stay locked, the more points they collect. “The Distracted Driving side to the app where it tracks whenever you drive is really awesome because it makes you feel super guilty when you pick up your phone, even to change your music”, NHS member Leslie Gregory says.  

When asked the history behind Pocket Points NHS Adviser, Becky Ayler explains that she was having dinner with some friends that attend MSU and they explained the app to her. Ayler decided to look into it, finding that Park High was already listed as an applicant to use the app.  

Along with many kids starting to use this app, Scott Tatum is very interested in getting to the top of the leader board having racked up 6,851 minutes of being phone-free. “It’s kinda competitive and I think a lot of it is people want to try to get first place” Tatum adds.  The leader board is used by all the students at Park High. It puts you on and shows where you stand compared to everyone else to help encourage more time off your phones.  

Committee members agree that it is helping kids stay off their phones in a positive way. Along with the leader board aspect, Gregory adds “it should make a bigger impact once more teachers are involved and spreading it to more students”. 

Not many teachers have decided to use this app yet, but the NHS committee recently presented it to the faculty at their last professional development day. Some local businesses like Red box and Dominos have joined Pocket points. When more start to join, you will be able to use coupons for their products. Larger businesses, like Amazon, Lulus, and Tilly’s have been on the app for a while now giving people up to 25% off.