I bet this wasn't denying access to books outside the curriculum because they're bad influence or something - it was merely about making sure they did also read

I bet this wasn't denying access to books outside the curriculum because they're bad influence or something - it was merely about making sure they did also read the books assigned to them by the school. It actually looks like following standard productivity advice - eliminating distraction. The kid could go back to reading whatever after the required job was done.