The Year 8 student involved in a sexually explicit video with another boy that was shared to others needs immediate and professional help.

This was the word from psychotherapist, counsellor and mental health specialist Selina Kuruleca.

“Why is a 13-year-old child behaving like she is older sexually in nature — this is a serious issue,” she said.

“So questions need to be asked of their supervision by adults.

“And parents to be reminded that the competency level of a 13-year-old is different from an older teenager or young adult — there must be safety rules around phone, tablet and internet use.”

Ms Kuruleca said the student would need immediate help from a mental health expert because she would not be in a position to handle the fallout from the video being shared with others.

“She would be undergoing feelings of loss of trust, betrayal, shame, humiliation, embarrassment and could become withdrawn.

“She may be even experiencing vicarious trauma, depending on how many times she was ridiculed and then there’s the cyber-bullying and all the effects of that.”

Minister for Women and Children Mereseini Vuniwaqa said the onus was on parents to speak openly to their children about the dangers of the irresponsible use of mobile phones and gadgets that access the internet.

She said parents’ decision to give their child a phone, especially a smart phone, should not be taken lightly.

Mrs Vuniwaqa also said parents should make their children fully aware of the dangers of irresponsible use of smartphones and not shy away from telling their children about the real cases of private videos being made and shared on social media.

She added parents should closely monitor their children’s internet usage — the sites that they accessed and their social media accounts.