CLICKING her computer mouse from time to time, Ma Yee Mon Thant busily manages her virtual family.

The 13-year-old is happy to spend a couple of hours in front of her computer playing “The Sims” – a virtual game in which players manage the lives and happiness of the “families” they create.

Ma Yee Mon Thant’s family includes a mother, father and daughter – just like her family in the real world.

Spending time on her computer, she says, is more than just a relaxing pasttime because she learns new English words from playing games and also turns her fantasies into reality.

Ma Yee Mon Thant first got a computer in 2005 when her father brought one home for the family to use.

But this savvy young student does more than just play games on it; she also uses it to prepare school assignments in both Myanmar and English and has learned how to use the Paint program too.

Ma Yee Mon Thant’s mother, Daw Khin Aye Mu, says she has tried to help her daughter to learn as much as possible about computers.

I’m very positive about my daughter using computers,” Daw Khin Aye Mu says. “Computers are international tools and it’s good that my daughter is learning how to use them when she’s young. I believe that it will eventually help to develop her education and future career.”

Retired state school teacher Daw Khin Cho shares the same view as Daw Khin Aye Mu. She says her five-year-old granddaughter shows off in front of guests on her computer and plays games and watches cartoons whenever there is electricity.

But she warns that simply buying a computer for children is not enough.
She says proper guidance from teachers and parents is needed to ensure children learn to use computers for the right reasons and do not waste time playing games and chatting.

Ma Yee Mon Thant agrees with Daw Khin Cho and says that even though she had been using a computer for two years, her progress has stalled lately because there is nobody at home to teach her.

She says that when her father was around he would teach her new computer applications from time to time. But since her father went overseas to work and her mother is not computer literate, she has been forced to rely on her older cousins when she encounters problems.

Although her aim is not to become a computer technician, Ma Yee Mon Thant says she would like to learn as much as possible about computers. “I still need to learn a lot more because at the moment I only know a little about my computer,” she says.

Ma Yee Mon Thant said she hopes her school will teach her more about program applications when she gets into the higher grades.

Daw Khin Aye Mu said she would send her daughter to a basic computer training course when she starts ninth grade. And Ma Yee Mon Thant is eager for the chance.

“I believe that the more I know about how to use computers properly, the more I can improve my abilities,” Ma Yee Mon Thant said.

“I won’t stop striving to learn more.”