The first step to herd mentality conditioning is to put children of the same ages together in "classes", they are classed, in "schools". What a school of fish, how they move. The children will literally police themselves to follow the herd in the classic "nerd" and "nerd" roles. Somebody gotta be a bully, somebody a nerd. It doesn't matter to what they are complying as the majority demands, as long as they are complying.
This effectively slowly destroys the "self", sacrificed for the sake of the ethos of the many.
riiiiiiing!
Alright, Class dismissed.