My kids are no longer teens .... but it hasn't been that long (20 and 23, son and daughter). 16 was the 'dating' point for both....same rules for both....I had to meet the boy/girl and have a phone number for parents.
What I discovered early on was that much of the terminology did not bear the same definition....beginning in middle school they went to dances and had 'boyfriends' or 'girlfriends'...and they talked about 'going out together'....these were not the same situations as I was familiar with when I was their age.
For my kids, a boyfriend or girlfriend was someone they had a crush on or liked in their group. They hung out together in the group. Even at 16, they weren't really interested in 1:1 dating, but liked double dates or larger groups. They might accompany a guy or girl in the group, but they didn't really get into more formal dating until around 18, except for proms and big dances....even then ... it was a group thing.
Who knows, maybe it is a regional thing (we were in SF bay area), but that is how it worked there. My daughter was the oldest and the other thing I learned was the more rules I had, the more problems. For instance, curfew. The minute I sat her down and said you no longer have a curfew, instead we will work out return times based on what is happening when you go out, our relationship improved 100%. She could tell her friends she didn't have a curfew, and we both knew she was taking personal accountability for each outing....sometimes she'd come home earlier, sometimes later as opposed to a set time....and she always honored her word. This was especially good for her as a more rebellious, non-conformer; but it also worked great for my son.
I found that the minute I learned to take a deep breath, be flexible, and trust in the foundation I provided my kids, the happier and more open our relationship became.