A childhood belief about periods

All during elementary school, I was something of a problem child and ended up in the principal's office at least twice a week. Naturally, every time that happened I would get bored and look around for something interesting to read. One time, I found a flyer aimed at the 6th grade girls about getting your period. I read it front to back and was horrified. I thought it was talking about some fatal disease that all girls get when they grew up. It gave me horrible nightmares about growing up and susequently bleeding to death.