Sadly, it's not. I've had lots students who would use the Opera VPN or one of the "free" anti-virus providers VPNs because they got sold (by adds or dumb friends) that it would be safer.

You seriously over-estimate the "tech-savviness" of the average student and that really is part of the issue I'm pointing out here.

I can confirm. The average graduating high school senior or first-year college student is woefully inept at technical tasks. They grew up with tablets and smart phones, but outside the common apps, they aren't any more tech-savvy than anybody else.

Source: I work in tech for higher ed.

For their threat model, they could be right - they could be successfully defending against school network surveillance and/or censorship.