BELLEROSE, N.Y. – This past Friday, the Queens College women’s lacrosse team traveled to St. Gregory's Grammar School as a part of the national "Stomp Out Bullying" campaign which is an anti-bullying and cyber-bullying program for children and teens.  The Knights gave a demonstration about the effects of bullying, and how to prevent it from happening.

“I genuinely felt the program hit home,” said head coach, Tricia Moran Bonagura. “(The team) genuinely felt like it made a difference – whether it was with one kid or 20 kids.

“Being able to touch and change lives is extremely important. It made us all want to be better people.”

Some statistics to consider, courtesy of the “Stomp Out Bullying” web site: One out of every four kids are bullied, and one out of every five kids admits to being a bully.  An amazing 97 percent of middle school children are bullied online, and 20 percent of high school students have contemplated suicide due to being bullied.

"Seeing the students’ reactions to my story let me know that we made a difference,” said junior defender, Julie LoStrappo. “It is important for kids going through a hard time to know that they are not alone, and that it gets better."

The team spent their time at St. Gregory's speaking to both the seventh- and eighth-grade classes.  The students were provided with some statistics about bullying, and shown that so many kids their age are affected by this each and every day.  During a YouTube video shown to the classes, tears could be heard throughout the room, showing the effects that this awful and serious problem can have on anyone.

"Our bullying seminar at St. Gregory's is the most rewarding volunteer experience I have ever had,” said senior defender and team captain, Nicole Foy. “Just doing the research, watching all the YouTube videos, and even sharing my experience with bullying has had an impact on me. I can only hope that the students were touched just as much."

“As a coach, it is always rewarding to see your team excel and do well on and off the field,” concluded Moran Bonagura, whose team is now in contact with other Queens-area schools about putting on the program for them, too. “To see them accomplish what they did really touched me and made me so proud of each and every one of them. Having some of the girls share their own personal past experiences really made it hit home for so many of the students and it made it that much more rewarding.”

The program that the women’s lacrosse team put on is one of 40-plus community service projects that the Queens College athletics department will be performing throughout the 2011-12 academic year.

Provided by the Queens Sports Information Department.