How Can Parents Help Their Kids Develop a New Friendship?

The third theme that i'm seeing is kids who are so desperate to make friends with the unattainable, popular kids. In order to gain the favor and attention their classmates, they're becoming the class clown or they're picking up vaping,. Now theyr there, smothering the people that they want to to impress. An where does this fit into the paradise, and how can parents sort of rein in this bea?