Whether the story is true or not, I think there's an even bigger point. I believe augmentation is coming. There will be a time in the not too distant future when disabling communication for almost anything else will be near unthinkable. I can imagine kids growing up with instant access to info and communication via neural link to feel threatened/stressed/horrified to be disconnected, similar to tearing a child away from its parent.

I'm not making a judgement whether that's good or bad. I'm sure plenty will chime in with their opinion. I'm only bringing up the world of always on computing is probably coming and schools will need to find some other way to test students that don't require handicapping them by removing what they perceive as part of their brain.