I once had a little rip-of from Walmart (kinda nice, actually). It beeped a lot, so I just turned the sound off and glanced at it every few minutes while holding it in my lap. That way, my little pet didn't die, and I still learned something. It was a bit smaller than a Tama, though, and didn't require as much care.
I think that Tamagotchis should be okay during lunch, recess and on the bus to/from a field trip. Mimitchilover's teacher sounds ridiculous and should get her head on straight. They should, however, give at least a warning for people who sit in class and constantly fiddle with them. At my old school, kids would sneak their cell phones, Gameboys, ect. in, and often got away with it because no one else really cared enough to tell.
Those things, however, are big enough to actually cause a distraction. Nobody's really gonna care about a Tamagotchi, especially if no one likes you, or you get picked on all of the time (that makes it easy for me!
). They'll be too busy talking about Javandalaquishalynn's new dress, or David-bob's science report or whatever. But, remember, I'm just talking about my old school back in Tennessee. You all's schools may be a lot different.
Back in my old school, if a kid was caught with an electronic thingy, the vice principle would take it, and your mom or dad would have to come get it back for you. That seemed pretty fair.