Discipline
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Aftercare"Aftercare" is a very general term that is used by the staff of Southern Comfort in reference to the care that a child, teen or submissive adult is given after a punishment or scene (if involved in BDSM). It is a crucial element to any play where healing is part of the goal (as it is here at Southern Comfort) and we feel that it's important enough to our group that we need to bring this up to help others to understand why we employ it and how it should work.
The following information really does need a thorough read in order to ensure that you fully understand aftercare and what it means to us. Here at Southern Comfort, our reasons go above and beyond simply making a child feel better, and we're going to use this file to explain to you why. But first... What is Aftercare?Aftercare is the comfort, affection and forgiveness that a child, teenager or submissive adult receives after a punishment. There are other definitions of after care and other ways of defining what we're talking about here, but for our purposes, this is the expression and the definition which we employ.
Children and teenagers rely on this type of care in order to come back to the reality of the world they live in on a day to day basis. Strict punishment can do strange things to the way that a person thinks and feels, and this type of affection helps to equalize everything for a child or teenager. We believe that it is up to the parents and guardians to issue after care, and acceptable for some members of the support system as well. After care isn't expected from a teacher when a child or teenager is punished in school, but a child may receive comfort and reassurance upon his or her arrival home. Reasons to Offer AftercareThere are several reasons to use after care when you are the adult dealing with the punishment of a child or teenager. The following situations are significant and representative of "out of character" reasons to provide after care to a child or teenager.
When to Provide AftercareAftercare is very important, but the timing can be crucial. This will vary depending on the individual pair (both the child/teenager and the adult/guardian). Sometimes children or teenagers might not want to be touched after a punishment and may need to take a cooling off period. Others may not want any after care at all (these are usually players to watch for bratty behavior and the tendency to rush off into the next misbehavior!).
To begin with, aftercare should always be offered to the child or teenager who has been punished. The staff does recognize that there may be times that a person playing an adult character may prefer not to offer or provide aftercare for the children or teenagers in her care, and we want to establish that these folks should create teachers since this user group remains useful, employs physical discipline, and is not required to provide aftercare to the children or teenagers being punished. We also recognize that there are times that children or teens might reject the aftercare that has been offered. Aftercare should be offered only when the punishment is complete, and the person playing the adult should ensure that the person playing the bottom feels that the punishment is complete before moving on to this stage of the punishment. Unless you know the way that another person plays very well, it's best to simply ask them: Is the punishment done? Is your character finished and purged? If they aren't, keep going. If they are, then move on to the aftercare. Sometimes a child or teenager might run away from the person who has just punished them. Ask the person playing the child whether you should follow after them or leave them be. Not everyone wants aftercare, after all! What Kinds of Aftercare are Acceptable?We allow pretty much everything, from gentle cuddling to bath time (even for older children and teens) accompanied by a parent to sexual contact following a punishment (for teens and adults). Here are some good ways to comfort a character who has just been through a serious punishment.
There are some other things that you can do, particularly after an especially harsh punishment.
When a child or teenager has been doing a lot of crying, he or she may develop a headache due to dehydration. The water and the Tylenol will help to alleviate this problem and will be a comfort to the child or teenager who has been punished, particularly if the punishment was physical.
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