Cannot access alert icon on Tama-Go

So i recently bought a Tama-Go, ive have tamagotchi's in all forms for years so i figured this would be fun. However, when my tama alert goes on (when they have the ! above their head and 'call' you) i try to go to the lower right icon which is the two interacting circles. But i can't access it, when i get where it would be on there and click the center button, it brings up the time as if nothing was selected. This has happened twice, please help me.

You aren't supposed to select that button

then what do i do when the alert comes up?

The alert icon only lights up when it needs something. It's not an icon to be selected. When it lights up, you tend to whatever your Tamagotchi needs (food, play, discipline, medicine in some cases, etc.). Chances are, if you check your Tamagotchi's stats under the status icon, you'll find out what it needs.

Yes the alert 'button' is just there to alert you, it's on all the tamas and it's always been the same.

yes thats what i thought, i was confused because the instructions said "select this to communicate with your tama character" since i never used it before to communicate i didnt understand.

however, the last two times the ! has appeared, the stats have been fine, not hungry, full happiness, and full friendship. it needs more training but would that effect it?

From my understanding based on what I've read, the rule-of-thumb for training is this: if your TMGO beeps for no apparent reason (no empty hearts or anything like this), you would give it a time-out. If your TMGO calls for attention with an exclamation point over its head (with full hearts), this would be the time to praise it. I'm not sure how effective this rule-of-thumb is because I've also heard that opportunities to either discipline or praise are random. If you manage to get your TMGO to the bathroom toilet on time while it does the "pee pee wiggle dance," that's the surest way to raise the training level. Sometimes your TMGO will also beep at you to say hi. I think you praise or discipline at your own risk.