We’ve seen it captured on video time and time again, the predator who grabs the innocent child, and the kids who know how to respond are the kids who succeed in getting away.

More than 58,000 children are abducted by strangers each year, according to the most recent statistics. Child advocate, founder of the family safety non-profit organization Keep Georgia Safe and father of three girls, Gary Martin Hays, co-authors the non-fiction book, The Success Secret, (releasing August 23, 2012, Celebrity Press™) with renowned author Jack Canfield of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.

In Hays’ chapter, “Empowering Your Child:  Why Every Kid Should Be A radKID”, co-authored with Diena Thompson, who lost her seven-year-old daughter Somer in 2009 to a registered sex offender and child abductor, readers will be introduced to radKIDS, the nation’s leading self empowerment program for children.

The radKIDS curriculum combines self-esteem building with realistic physical skills to avoid and escape violence. A curriculum that not only stops bullying behaviors, but also empowers children to stop violence physically when absolutely necessary — all with the intent to escape and then report, not hide, the encounter. radKIDS is the only nationally certified curriculum that teaches and empowers children to stop physical violence when necessary.

radKIDS is making a difference. More than 250,000 children have been trained in the program and over 85 children threatened with abduction have used their radKIDS skills and returned safely to their families. Through the program, there have been over 5,000 documented disclosures of sexual abuse, empowering these children to speak up and get the help they needed to stop the violence in their lives.

In the chapter, “Empowering Your Child:  Why Every Kid Should Be A radKID”, Gary and Diena also share some disturbing statistics on bullying: Every seven minutes a child is bullied, and in those situations, an adult only intervened four percent of the time. In 85% of bullying cases, there was no intervention on behalf of the child being bullied by anyone – -adults, friends or other children. Not only does radKIDS prepare kids for attempted abduction, the training is also successfully practiced in the war on bullying.

“Our children deserve the right to be safe in their lives and their education,” says Hays, “and radKIDS empowers both the children and the educational system to truly stop the violence and victimization that has reached pandemic proportion in our schools today.”

Gary Martin Hays is not only a successful attorney, but is a nationally recognized child safety advocate who works tirelessly to educate families and children on issues ranging from bullying to internet safety to abduction prevention. He currently serves as chairman of Keep Georgia Safe and on the Board of Directors of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation.

For more information on radKIDS, go to www.radkids.org, or “Empowering Your Child: Why Every Kid Should Be A radKID,” www.successsecretbook.com/