It’s still early in the school year and there are many students still attempting to navigate their way back into the flow of things. Personally, there is one thing I am most definitely used to: the constant distraction of students in class surfing the web on their laptops.

The bane of my existence is the student in front of me who would rather show their friend a cute cat video than actually learn from their professor.

A cute cat video better be worth $1,340 of your time considering that’s the average cost of the three credit class you are not taking notes in. Those groans coming from the class when the professor says “no laptops in class” should really be a unanimous “thank you” to the professor for helping students get the most out of class.

But maybe it’ll be a phone app to the rescue. The Badger Herald recently published an article on a new app called Pocket Points. Two University of Wisconsin students, Zachary Deal and Adam Haas, are marketing representatives for the app. App users simply turn it on, lock their phones and tally points — so long as the phone stays locked.

Points gained through the app can then be used at local Madison businesses. The app is designed to give an incentive to paying attention in class, something that should already be rewarding enough.

Paying attention, paying for lunch: New app has badgers covered for class participation

It says a lot about us if we need an app to incentivize something that is already rewarding. Going to college, especially a prestigious university like UW, is a privilege that is becoming more and more difficult to attain financially.

The average student loan debt upon graduation from college in the U.S. is more than $28,000, so you would think we would put our phones down, pay attention and value our education.

Maybe I’m being too harsh in assuming students should pay attention all the time in lectures. Or maybe I’m tired of cute cat videos.

Another real problem, that I admit I am also guilty of, is short attention spans during times we need to pay attention most, like lectures. Sure, not paying attention once in a while will not ruin your life or your grade, but if you have a short attention span in other aspects of daily life, it can certainly be detrimental.

If you have made it this far in reading the article, congrats on having the attention span to do so. You are better than most, including myself. I’d keep writing on this topic but those cat videos are calling my name.

Luke Schaetzel ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism and political science.