Once my eldest son turned 16, I really started to think about his work /school /life balance. He was working nights (his choice for extra spending money) and going to school during the day.

He still interacted with the family daily and it seemed weird for me to force him to give up his few leisure hours for a forced family dinner.

I started just popping into his room once dinner was ready and inviting him to come eat with us. If he was in the middle of something that couldn't be paused then I made him a plate and let him eat it in his room while playing.

He always came out after the game was done to give me a hug and thank me, interact with the family etc. It's crazy how easy it is to build /maintain a relationship with your teenager when you give them a certain amount of autonomy where warranted.

I agree that there are some ages where you need to put limits on screen time, enforce dinner times etc.

But there are also ages where you need to let kids decompress a bit, especially if they have a lot going on. Nagging over a specific time for dinner isn't a great hill to die on. Save the nagging and outrage for curfew issues or something.

If they're teenagers then they're more than capable of making themselves a plate when they're done.