Politics in Academia

Lately, I’ve been exposed (or shall I say overexposed) to the darker side of the world of academics i.e. politics. I was until recently a naïve student fresh out of a school where the teachers treated us like children. The teachers in my school were so professional that students weren’t aware of any feud that went on between teachers. Little did I know that things in college are a different ball game altogether. I’ve attended online classes for 1.5 years and have been attending offline college for about 8-10 months now. The professors in my college expect us to grow up overnight and become adept in the “wordly ways”. We have to be careful of every little thing we say lest we hurt some professor’s fragile ego.

Everything went well so far. And I was never directly involved in anything but some of my friends don’t know how to deal with twisted people without causing problems and I just got dragged into this whole mess because of our friendship even though I have absolutely 0 direct involvement in this. Now, my friend is being targeted and I can’t turn my back on our friendship but I hate such messes of this sort that disrupt my mental peace. 

It would be great if anyone could provide me with some advice on how to deal with such situations or share their experience of workplace or institutional politics.

Thank you so much for your time !