I don't know Michael Brewer, but I can tell you that he is an upstanding kid because even though fearful, he did the right thing.

Brewer, 15, was doused in rubbing alcohol Monday afternoon near his Deerfield Beach neighborhood by one classmate and then set ablaze by another -- both miscreants part of a group of five who allegedly surrounded Brewer during the immolation so he couldn't escape.

Police say the accused wanted to punish Brewer because one of them was arrested after Brewer reported the attempted theft of his father's bike.

In trendy speak, Brewer snitched.

And for doing so he suffered second- and third-degree burns over 65 percent of his body. Doctors at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Burn Center say that if he survives he'll be hospitalized for months.

FALLACY

In the midst of our sorrow for Brewer and outrage over the actions of his attackers, there is a double-edged fallacy that needs to be corrected: that ``snitching'' is only about alerting authorities to criminal acts in urban communities and that there is an epidemic of not ``snitching'' among teenagers so broad that it represents moral decay.

Snitching is also the act of calling out bad behavior, even if just for the purpose of condemning it.

So yes, there is an epidemic of not snitching. But it is in American society as a whole, not just the under-25 set and not just in the so-called 'hood.

Discouraging snitching is as American as apple pie, baseball and politicians cheating on spouses -- and then having religious experiences.

When police officers of all ages go bad, they pressure their peers to zip lips and not assist Internal Affairs investigators, a k a the ``rat squad.''

When preachers pilfer from church funds, fellow ministers -- even those known for being the squeakiest wheels -- are often quieter than mice.

When a fugitive Hollywood director is jailed for dodging punishment over a criminal conviction related to drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl, the stars of Tinseltown remain quiet. They may not speak up for him, but they certainly don't speak out against him.

When pro football player-turned-Special Forces soldier Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, U.S. Army investigators reportedly had a difficult time closing the case because Tillman's fellow soldiers and superior officers didn't want to snitch.

When little brothers tell on little sisters in the perfectly manicured cul-de-sacs of Pleasantville, U.S.A., mommies tell those little brothers to stop being tattletales.

CULTURAL NORM

So when you consider that not snitching is a cultural norm that stretches far beyond the boundaries of the grittiest urban communities and has leached into every occupation imaginable, Brewer's willingness to tell -- to snitch -- is that much more impressive.

We get on kids' cases these days for being too consumed with being popular.

By its most practical definition, popularity often calls for going with the flow. The ``flow'' in this case would have had Brewer succumbing to his fear and not reporting the attempted theft of his father's bike.

Instead, he bucked the trend and did the right thing. As Michael Brewer heals, let's hope the outraged remember his bravery the next time they're faced with calling someone out for their behavior.