Kinshasa, July 27th , 2026 (CPA).– The ubiquity and uncontrolled use of phones, commonly known as “smartphones,” by the younger generation in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), are causing serious concern among families and educational circles. Having become veritable tools of daily addiction, these digital devices are redefining social norms, undermining academic performance, and fueling urban insecurity. They also pose a scourge within households and exam centers.
In households across the capital, smartphones now dictate the pace of life for teenagers, pushing family and academic responsibilities to the background. This reality is particularly evident among young girls, who are known for their tendency to spend hours scrolling through social media, especially in search of the unusual.
Ms. Philomène Kinkela, a parent living in the town of Bandalungwa, speaks of her helplessness in the face of this phenomenon, which directly affects her child’s education. “For some time now, my daughter has been devoting all her study time to this device. Even before and after meals, she’s always glued to it. I don’t know what to do. When you forbid her from using it, she gets upset.” she says bitterly.
This addiction has even made its way into official testing centers, where some final-year students are suspected of using smartphones.
Intellectual Decline in Universities
This trend is just as alarming in Kinshasa’s academic circles, where apps such as TikTok and Facebook captivate students’ attention at the expense of their studies. The taste for intellectual effort and documentary research is gradually fading in the face of distractions described as “mundane,” including watching pornographic videos.
Faced with this mass distraction, the faculty oscillates between rigor and resignation. For Professor Albert Singapa, a teacher in Kinshasa, the responsibility now lies with the individual: “I teach my class to the students who pay attention. Those who do something else—too bad for them,” he states bluntly, illustrating the widening gap between educators and a generation hypnotized by screens.
Risk of Accidents and Rise in Pickpocketing
Beyond the educational sphere, the excessive use of smartphones is leading to serious safety consequences in public spaces. Captivated by their Android devices, many young people—and particularly young women—display dangerous inattention on public roads, crossing the capital’s major thoroughfares without observing basic traffic rules: “Look left and right.” Moreover, this widespread carelessness plays right into the hands of urban criminals. The conspicuous display of cell phones on public transportation, in markets, and on the streets of Kinshasa is fueling a surge in pickpocketing. Owning a smartphone now requires constant vigilance to avoid the networks of pickpockets and young opportunistic thieves that swarm throughout the city.
Initially seen as a means of bridging the digital divide and providing access to knowledge, the smartphone has now become a behavioral trap for Kinshasa’s youth. In the face of this societal challenge, the joint involvement of educational authorities, regulators, and family structures is essential to restore this technological tool’s primary function.