ANDERSON — Now that all Lakeside Middle School students have received their “voter registration” cards, they are preparing to vote.

As part of the social studies classes at the Anderson school, students are looking at the issues and candidates on the ballot this election season.

From sixth grade to eighth grade, students are discussing health care, taxes, the war in Iraq and presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, said Meredith Bannister, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at the school.

Since the first week of September, students have been studying election topics and then voting on them, Bannister said.

Students have voted to determine the top two issues facing the country, what the next president should focus on and how to deal with the energy crisis, among other questions.

And the children have learned a lot, they said.

Students in Bannister’s fourth-period class created presidential candidate posters Tuesday for a schoolwide contest and talked about the election program.

“I’ve learned a lot about the difference between people who want to vote for Obama and those who want to vote for McCain, and why they want to vote the way they do,” Kristen Corner said. “It seems like some of the people who want to vote for Obama are only doing that because of his race … but the people who are voting for McCain are only doing it because he is a Republican.”

Sometimes the debate between the classmates gets intense, but not heated, students said. But the students all stick by their decisions based on the research they have put into their candidates of choice and their decisions regarding issues.

While Bradon Mullinax said he felt the United States should withdraw troops from Iraq because of the risks, Jake Sherman said he felt the United States should keep troops in Iraq to keep the war from coming to America.

And Ash Padgette said he was impressed by McCain because, like him, McCain enjoys enchiladas.

The students said they were talking about the issues at home, too.

“My mom, she talks to me a lot about it at home,” Alexis Chester said. “She even makes me watch the debates.”

On Election Day, the entire school will vote in different “precincts” separated by grades. Volunteers from the schools parent-teacher organization have created the mock voter registration cards and will tally the votes, Bannister said.

For the students, the experience is a precursor to the next election, when many of the current eighth- graders will be of voting age, Bannister said.

“They will cast their ballots, just like in a regular election,” she said. “It’s a wonderful simulation of what we do as adults. … In four years, many of these students will be 18 and ready to vote. It’s a great learning experience for them.”