Teaching our kids to say these two words? A game changer. Especially when you understand sensory overload hits them almost every day. Learning in school that breaks for them were necessary, we incorporated the same practices at home. With two elementary-aged children on the autism spectrum, it helped us as parents and their educators to recognize when the input was too much. In a few months, what once was intolerable became manageable.  

Both kids mastered the ‘Bat-Signal.’ A hand gesture allowing them permission, carte blanche, to request a break when appropriate. A time-out. Sometimes from their classmates. Occasionally, removing them from modified classroom activities.

Our kids quickly mastered their Bat-Signal, so how come adults don’t have one for informational overload? This idea of a time-out struck me. Typically, as adults, we don’t break away from informational overload; we submerge ourselves even deeper into it! We ride emotional waves, going straight from excited and happy, shifting with the force of a grinding gears on a four-speed transmission car, with anger so volatile that even those closest to us? They don’t recognize the words or the actions!

Do we all need to take an extended time out from social media, mastering those telltale signs that we need a break? Do our friends and family need a Bat-signal for us? Is an extended break from Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and Tumblr going to help? These feeds overflow with messages designed to incite anger, rage, and hostility, rather than showing love, compassion, and care. Instead of helping us love others, they actually hold us back from love, focusing instead on creating division between us, instead of growing and embracing others who don’t see eye to eye with us.

Like it or not, your words? They have the power. Life or death. All confined in your mouth.

Speak them. Write them. But choose how you use your power carefully. Like Indiana Jones searching for the Holy Grail and picking the right cup, we must choose wisely, ensuring they heal, not harm.

If that’s true, then how do my words on social media impact hundreds or potentially thousands, and maybe millions of others? Is the only thing seen on my feed political positions? Personal ideologies? Causes I stand behind and champion?

Are my words attacking? Causing someone I don’t know damage because they are attacking anyone who disagrees with me? Is my intention to hurt and cause pain? Or am I careful, crafting them to spark civil conversation? Not contentious arguments. Or am I only looking for engagement with people who think, act, or believe the way I do?

How about those times we listen to our emotions and act out of love? Does that mean we still need a time-out? Probably. My kids? They put on noise-canceling headphones. They get to spend their time-out on screen time, which helps them calm down, regulate their breathing, and reset. Not me.

My time-outs look different. Getting in the car, I drive. Listening to music. Soaking in the hum of the road noise or the occasional truck, SUV, or sports car flying by me. But I’m sticking to the 70-mile-per-hour speed limit.

Silence works for me, even as an extrovert, because it reminds me what matters. It regulates my emotional state, keeping me focused on what’s truly important. Loving other people.

We all need this wisdom. Take a step back. Breathe. Remember your words. Like it or not, they are shaping the world around us.

What’s your Bat-Signal? Share what your timeout from the digital noise looks like. I’d love to hear your story!