In all my years of teaching, I saw many bullies. In nearly every case, they were at heart very unhappy and miserable individuals, who had suffered neglect, abuse or violence at home. The interesting thing is, many (not all by any means) of their victims were also children who were at a disadvantage in some way, either scruffy, too fat, too thin, odd mannerisms etc. I never had any sympathy with the protagonists, but punished them every time (lines, detention etc.) Just because one is unhappy inside is NOT an excuse to dominate and hurt another. But I did manage (I hope) to distinguish between serious bullying and ordinary playground disagreements and name-calling. The latter should be ignored in the main. I find nowadays that bullying goes on in the adult world. I was bullied in the HMCR enquiries office the other day, for no apparent reason. But the woman concerned was obviously miserable in her job (no excuse!) and didn't look well. Neither did I when I emerged in tears after the 'interview'!