Plenty of virgins wear tampons. You just have to be careful. But what exactly does your mother mean? Where are you from? Does she mean that if you want to wear a tampon it therefore means that you are not a virgin? Or that if you start to wear tampons, you will rupture your hymen? what are the cultural implications?
I have/had the same issue. I was raised in a VERY religious household, and my mom would never ever ever ever let me use tampons, she used that excuse ^^ and she said you can get infections and whatnot from them. So, 1: you are still a virgin NO MATTER WHAT if you havent had sex (a guys P enter your V) and 2: (in case my moms comments scared you) you cannot get an infection or anything from tampons unless the seal was previously broken which means bacteria could have gotten into/on it in which case you should never use anything the seal is broken on, ESPECIALLY when its going inside you, and you should never ever leave them in for more than a few hours (or less depending on how heavy your flow is. --OH, and I would always ask my friends for some in school, or you can have someone buy them for you and secretly give them to you to stash, or keep them in their bag or something and just use them when you need them without worrying about your mom finding them. Hope this helped! good luck hunny :)
It's not so that you lose your virginity with using tampons. Anything inserted inside you excpet a penis can never take away your virginity, you're not having an intercourse, you are just inserting a piece of an absorbing material inside you which will help you stay comfortable.