We work in education and this field depends heavily on collaboration and good-faith among colleagues. Bullying is symptomatic of serious dysfunction in the workplace or within an organization. I was recently bullied at work and left my job as a result. At the end of it, there was nothing left to salvage and the experience left me certain that I had been wasting my time for several years already.

Bullies are sociopaths and they need therapy, not sympathy. Turning this back on ourselves and asking what involvement we have in it personally is a natural reaction for educators, but it is very destructive and it does not address the root cause of the problem. Bullies do not want approval or co-operation, they only want fear. You can spot them because no one is ever indifferent to them, people either avoid them because they are fearful, or they suck up to them because they are fearful. Bullies will also be obsequious to those in authority. They will try to establish close relations with such people, and them use them to intimidate others.

When we are bullied we have a moral and ethical obligation to do something about it. If left unchecked, bullying can deeply undermine an organization and destroy everyone’s hard work for years to come. The outcome of our action may be that the bully leaves, or it may be that we leave, but in either event we have done something about it. Doing nothing is also a response and it is the wrong one.