Getting young children to focus on anything can often be a challenge for parents and all adults. Part of the reason stems from the simple fact that concentration is a learned trait that develops over the course of years. Generally, the more responsibilities an individual takes on, the more focus is required, with children still in various formative stages of development.
In the case of five children at a playground in Jacksonville, North Carolina, that concentration was directed at the sounding of colors, otherwise known as the Marine Corps retreat music. This unique look at life on a military base has garnered more than 1.5 million online views since first being posted in March 2011.
What begins as standard children’s play at a swing set quickly changes within a few seconds. At the first sound of colors, each of the children stops talking and quickly turns around to stand at attention as the music continues. When it concludes a minute later, the children go back to their playful activities.
Their actions were captured by the mother of some of those children, Danielle Tomei-Davila, who lives on the Marine Corps Air Station New River base with her family. Shooting the video from inside her house near the back door, Tomei-Davila indicated that capturing this memory for posterity served as the basis for filming the children’s actions.
Tomei-Davila has a very positive image of her time as a military wife and family, with her video also eliciting more than 700 comments. While a few individuals claimed that the children’s actions amounted to being indoctrinated, the vast majority took a more patriotic approach.
In the latter case, Tomei-Davila garnered praise about the way she was raising her children. Others simply noted that the fact that the children’s actions took place on a military base should be no surprise.