Childline offers support to fans left devastated by Zayn Malik’s departure from One Direction

One Direction fans will be feeling pretty shocked and upset after the news of Zayn Malik’s departure from the band.

And instead of friends and family telling them to “get over it”, Sue Minto, head of Childline, says they should be supportive.

She said: “There are young people who are going to feel seriously distressed at the news and people are going to have to get their head around the fact that for some this will be very distressing and not to undermine it, even if they don’t quite understand it.”

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Sue said there will be a “whole range of reasons” why the news will have an impact on young people – and not just on young girls who may have “fallen in love with him”.

“It will be other young people for whom One Direction might be a positive thing in their life, something that maybe supports them and helps them out with other pressures such as bullying, exams or low self-esteem.

“Lots of people have pop stars or celebrities or actors who they hold in high esteem, and there is a lot of sadness and impact for people when something happens to any of them.

“So for a young person who maybe spends time in their room listening to One Direction and forgetting about their worries, to lose that could have a devastating effect.”

Parents, teachers and friends should help other young people to share their emotions and to look at what might make the feel better.

“Respond to the way they are feeling and be supportive to them, rather than making some sort of judgement call about whether you think they should be that upset or not,” Sue added.

ChildLine is available to support anyone who wants to talk about the issue, both by phone and online, where there are message boards and forums for young people to discuss their feelings with other youngsters.

“If there are young people who are seriously distressed and don’t feel like they have anyone to talk to, we don’t judge on their feelings. We are here to respond to how they feel now, irrespective of why that is,” Sue said.

“We don’t young people to feel distressed and alone and the potential for it it affect their ability to concentrate on school work, or worse, cause anyone to turn to self harm.”

To contact ChildLine, call 0800 11 11 or visit www.childline.org.uk.

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