PETALING JAYA, Jan 31 — Parents are becoming aware of the negative effects of giving their children free rein of electronic gadgets, but they are in no rush to snatch them away from their children.

Noor Salwani Muzran, 30, said she allowed her four-year-old daughter to play with an iPad since she was six months old.

“I don’t restrict her much because she is not glued to it 24 hours a day. She only plays with it when she is bored,” she said.

“She has been with her iPad every day and she’s a ‘master’ now, she even understands when the Internet is slow.”

Noor Salwani said her daughter had learned many things from using the iPad, and that her daughter had picked up the “slangs” used in cartoons.

“People say the iPad will affect social interaction, but it also depends on how parents handle the use for their children,” she said.

“There are pros and cons, and though I worry on how it will affect her in the future, we don’t know what will happen really.”

Mother of two Psoh Joon Peng, 35, said she rarely let her children use electronic gadgets as she had made her own research on the impact of doing so.

She said she would encourage her children, aged six and one, to read and play outdoors to keep them occupied.

“Even when I allow them to watch television, it is only for an hour a day of educational programmes,” she said.

“I see people buy iPads and tablets for their children and they spend most of their time on it... I don’t want that for my children.”

Businessman Muhammad Ilyas Azmi, 29, said he did not expose his 10-month-old son to any electronic gadgets as he found it unhealthy.

“Children should be playing outside more and socialising with their peers, not exposed to YouTube and electronic devices.”

Muhammad Ilyas said parents had to be more cautious now as cartoon shows were played 24 hours on television and the use of Internet was even more dangerous.

“I see my nieces and nephews glued to gadgets and the television most of the time because there is no one to supervise them.”

R.A. Ramesh, 48, said he noticed significant developments in his eight-year-old daughter after he weaned her off electronic gadgets at the age of six.

“We gave her an iPad at the age of two, and we started to see how isolated she became,” he said.

“At the age of seven, she started to have eyesight problems even when we had stopped her from using it and restricted her to only one hour a day during the weekend.”

The sales and marketing general manager said after his daughter began restricting the use of the gadget, he noticed a change in her behaviour and communication.

“She became more patient, her creativity increased, and she participates more in the social context,” he said.

“It was difficult to make her stop, but she adapted very fast and we can see her progressing gradually in language and social skills.”

Ramesh said he opposed excessive exposure to entertainment and now had plenty of books for his daughter.

“Her reading habit has improved tremendously and we have a wide selection of books for her,” he said.