“You can get free Chick-fil-A” was all I needed to hear to become hooked on pocket points. While that restaurant might not be the exact type of food I wanted, it was still free food. And how can anyone not love that?

From Sweets and Treats candy to clothing from Revival, and even free online shipping, pocket points has become a new close friend of mine.

The fact that I can earn points just by having my phone turned off, which I already rarely use in a day, is exciting (plus the fact that I can text off my laptop if I need to get around it is also quite a joy).

Dr. Shoultz told us that we can only earn points from 8:10 am to 4 pm at West, but luckily you can earn points longer because the U of I campus reaches our school. Bless the college town.

Despite the texting and point earning hacks, pocket points is overall just a great addition to our school. In less than a day, I have noticed less people on their phones around me, and class discussion has increased as everyone is forced to pay attention if they want to get that free pasta from Z’Mariks later that night.

I mean seriously, what better way to get high school students off their phones than giving them food. The idea is pure genius.

And with the help of Order Up, students can now cut down the price of their food and have it be brought to them. It is a complete win-win situation.

You’re probably thinking, ‘Wow, this sounds great, what more could I ever want?’ Well let me tell you- when downloading pocket points you automatically get a free fountain drink. It’s not much, but its free- and who doesn’t like free stuff.

Overall, pocket points is a game changer for West High, a school where classes were being overtaken by the power of the cell phone. Teachers have been unable to get students to interact with each other in group discussions, or listen to their lectures, or even take notes. Test’s have been sent from student to student by texting a photo, and secret conversations have taken place while class is in session. Phones have become the number one distraction in the classroom, and it truly has become a problem. I mean, not even the threat of having your phone put in jail for the day could stop students.

But now we have positive reinforcement. And classes have instantly become more focused and attentive to what is going on in the present- not making plans for Friday night or texting your friend across the room about what the guy next to you is wearing.

So thank you pocket points for making classes slightly more bearable, for being easy to cheat for more points and, most importantly, for giving us free food.