Day trades v long term hold

Hi there,
New to the whole stock market game but I've quickly discovered how day trading can affect the SP. I regrettably bought in at 12c after the last trading halt and will certainly be holding for LT but I can clearly see why people would want to buy and sell quickly. In saying that, isn't day trading just a smart way to make a quick buck? Whilst I've been watching my money go down, up, down etc and just staying put, others have capitalised on this and made good money. I see a lot of frustration from some on hc towards these traders but I can see that they won't go away whilst things remain without big results