Two thousand fourteen was dubbed “The Year of Selfies,” but that was before people started dying on a regular basis trying to capture the perfect selfie.  So where do we draw the line? Will 2015 be “The Year of Deadly Selfies?”

In the past year more people have died trying to take a selfie than by shark attack.  Twelve people have died in selfie related deaths and eight have died in a shark attack.  People are capturing photos and dying before they can even see them or show them to anyone.

You may think that selfie deaths don’t happen in the United States, but they do and it is becoming a huge problem.

Earlier this month on September 1, 2015, a young adult accidentally killed himself while taking a selfie with a gun in Houston, Texas.  The 19-year-old, Deleon Alonso Smith, accidentally shot himself in the throat, killing himself.  In Russia there was also a woman who shot herself in the head while taking a selfie, but luckily she survived.

After hearing about this selfie accident senior Brennan McKendree said he was unfazed and it didn’t affect his decision making.

“I would take a selfie with a gun.  It would require a freak accident for me to shoot myself so I’d take my chances,” he said.

There is also a new phenomenon of selfie sticks that has people taking more selfies whenever, however, and wherever they can.

The selfie stick allows people to capture the perfect photo at an extreme angle.  It also allows for people to capture more in a photo by acting as an extension on their arm.  It has led people to climb on rooftops and pose with guns, risking their lives just to get a picture.

Sophomore Sidney Patterson is one B-A student with a selfies stick, and though she hasn’t goner overboard yet, she said she plans to.

“I have a selfie stick and I plan on using it to take a crazy selfie with my brother when I go skydiving for my twenty-first birthday,” Patterson said.

There are daredevils who are taking it too far though.  Some are posing on the edge of cliffs or ledges and then losing their footing and falling.  Four of the people who fallen from these cliffs have died.  There have also been selfie related deaths on train tracks with people not getting out of the way before a train comes.

Selfies have some governments taking action to protect people by implementing laws on selfies.  In India a “no selfie zone” was implemented at the Hindu Kumbh Mela festival to protect people.  There are also places throughout the world that are banning selfie sticks to protect people.  They are no longer allowed at Disney World, Wimbledon and many other places.

Senior Elizabeth Whaley has a selfie stick, but she doesn’t want to risk injuring herself taking an extreme photo.

“My life is too valuable for me to die taking a selfie,” Whaley said.

Is a picture really worth a few likes on Instagram or Facebook?  In the end you have to ask yourself: Is my life worth a photo?