LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A new phone app is putting critical information about drugs right at teenagers fingertips.
“Same message, same premise, but let's change the way we're getting information to them. So I think using technology, using phones, using social media,” said hip-hop artist and Believing in Forever Inc. founder Devine Carama.
The FEND smartphone app uses interactive activities to teach teens about the dangers of opioids and addresses other mental health issues. Users receive rewards like gift cards for participating in monthly missions.
“So it's starting a conversation. But also we're getting a lot of young people who are saying ‘oh I didn't know that.’ ‘I didn't know this.’ So you can tell that they're enjoying the information that they're getting,” said Carama.
Carama is the local community outreach director for the FEND movement. He says in just 5 weeks more than 1,200 teens in Fayette County have downloaded the app.
Carama hopes it will continue to pick up steam and change lives for the better.
“At the end of the day we know it's not going to just stop drug use, but hopefully it can help and if we can save one life - it's worth it,” said Carama.
Right now the FEND app with rewards is only available to teens in Fayette County. We're told there are plans to roll it out statewide in the coming months.
It can be downloaded for free in the app store.
